Beyond Expectations
by Jendra
Summary: Sequel to JGE. Sixth Year has begun. With Voldie gone, it should all be perfect, right? Wrong. Changes are coming, and some things are Beyond even Harry's Expectations. HP/LM crossdressing, Dumble bashing, Mpreg.
1. Chapter 1 and 2

So, so, here it goes!

Beyond Expectations is the sequel to Jade Green Eyes (which was a sequel to Mythic Alliance). It is Harry/Lucius with Severus as Harry's adopted father. It includes crossdressing and mpreg. There is also Dumbledore bashing.

You really need to read Jade Green Eyes before you read this or you will be lost. You don't necessarily have to read MA (which was gen Harry with mentor Severus and friend Draco), but if you don't read JGE first, you're going to be a bit confused.

As with JGE, I am not posting any graphic sex scenes on this site. At the moment, the only place they can be found is my yahoogroup, Jendrafic.

Beyond Expectations is *complete* and will be posted in two to four piece chunks twice a week. I'm still trying to work with Monday and Thursday afternoons, but since I am now working full time (as of last week, I'm still so excited!) that might not always be possible. Luckily, however, there's not as much editing necessary in this story as there was in the last one, since I don't believe the formatting is messed up like it was... if it is, please leave me my delusions grin.

Xikum was an immeasurable help in the editing of this story and it would not be nearly as polished and complete without her help.

Now, I suppose I have talked enough. I'm only putting up two chapters today, because there's a time skip after chapter 2 that makes this a perfect chunk size.

Beyond Expectations

(sequel to Jade Green Eyes)

by Jendra

Part 1/?

Harry looked around the Great Hall. Almost everyone was pretending to be interested in their own conversations while stealing surreptitious glances in his and his father's direction. The Gryffindors were being relatively polite only because they knew they'd have the chance to jump Harry when he went back to the common room. The Slytherins were slavering at the jaws to try to find out what they could but knew they'd have their chance with Draco after the feast. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs didn't have those resources and had to make do with rumor and speculation. And they were running high and fast.

Flick was currently curled around his shoulder under his robe, and very few people knew she was there. Spitfire wasn't noticeable near Severus, but that didn't mean anything either. He clapped indiscriminately as the new First Years were Sorted. The other Gryffindors stared at him as he applauded just as enthusiastically for the new Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and even Slytherins as he did for the students who went into his own House. His friends started doing the same thing and by the end of the Sorting almost the whole school was clapping and cheering for each student.

He listened as Dumbledore introduced the new Defense teacher. Connor O'Feahr was tall, lithe, auburn-haired and handsome enough to have had the attention of practically every female old enough to care ever since they first saw him. Of course, it wasn't only the girls, and Harry covered a chuckle as he remembered Blaise's reaction to meeting the man on the train.

/Flashback/

Harry headed down the hallway to the nearest loo. Finished with his business and headed back he passed an open compartment and looked inside. Inside was an unknown adult who looked up and caught his eye. "Come in, come in," he said in a lilting voice as he smiled happily. His eyes went up to the barely visible scar. "Ye'd be Harry Potter then?"

"Harry Snape actually," Harry said in a cool tone. "Are you the new DADA teacher?"

"Aye, that I be. Connor O'Feahr's the name. I have na' been able to visit Hogwarts aforetime. Can ye sit down and tell me abou' it?"

Harry thought about it for a moment, but knew there was no way he could be missing for much longer without someone coming to find him. Besides, he'd learned long before to be wary of DADA teachers. Only one good, competent one in the past five years and even he had had a very large secret. Still, he wanted to learn more about the man. Forewarned was forearmed after all. "My friends are going to be looking for me soon. Why don't you come to our compartment? Hermione would be the best one to ask. She knows practically everything." Without waiting for an answer, he headed back towards his friends. He knew it was rude, but also knew there was something slightly off about the man, something that was making his magic senses twinge. He could *feel* the man following him without even looking.

"What's the matter Harry, did you fall in?" Ron asked humorously, hiding the quick check he made of his friend. Everything looked all right.

Certain others didn't even bother to hide their perusal. "You were gone longer than expected," Draco told him straight out.

"I found the new DADA teacher," he told them. "He's never been to Hogwarts and wanted to ask questions. I figured others would be better to ask." He caught Draco's eyes deliberately, putting him on guard, then turned back to the opening and the man standing there. "Professor O'Feahr, these are my friends, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini, Neville Longbottom, Thyme Scarborough and Ginny Weasley. Guys, this is Connor O'Feahr."

"Nice i' tis to meet ye all," O'Feahr said genially.

Everyone welcomed him and scooted around until there was room for him to sit between Harry and Ron. Draco was across the compartment and Thyme had moved onto Neville's lap. Harry hid a smile. It wasn't anything they had ever bothered to talk about, but the stranger was currently situated in the middle of a triangle made up of the three strongest duelers in the compartment.

Ginny looked the man over, noticing instantly how attractive he was, as several others had already noticed. She pouted. "It's not fair," she whispered to her brother. "He's a redhead! Where are his freckles?"

The Defense professor laughed. "'Tis because I be not quite human, lass," he admitted. "It gives me betta than average hearing as well."

Everyone looked at him, trying to fit him into one of the categories of nonhumans that could crossbreed.

"A true elf?" Hermione suggested thoughtfully.

"Na' quite. Nowadays we be called the Sidhe. However we still know them as Danu's Children." He explained. "And it was many, many generations ago."

"The Tuatha de Danaan?" Hermione breathed.

"Aye, ye've heard of 'em?" O'Feahr asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Of course I have," Hermione answered. At that point Harry and most of the others tuned her out. Harry knew he'd get a complete rundown later. Right now he continued analyzing what he had found out so far. Being not completely human would explain the feeling he was getting. Flick hadn't warned him about anything either, so for right now he would just watch. That he was congenial didn't mean he was safe, nor knowledgeable. Not that it mattered as much to him or his friends. His dad would teach him and Draco whatever they needed to know, and they would teach those who wanted to know. It would still be best if they actually had a competent teacher though. He had other things he'd prefer to do with his time.

Of course, what he really wanted to do with his time wouldn't be possible for at least a couple of weeks, maybe even months. He shook those thoughts away before he got kicked. He'd already been warned what would happen if he started to mope too obviously. He was both a Snape and a Malfoy now, appearances had to be maintained.

After about fifteen minutes of conversation, the new professor took his leave. Once he was gone, Blaise took a deep breath and fanned his face. "Now there's a man," he vamped.

"You got that right," the three girls said almost in chorus, bringing about protestations from Hermione and Thyme's boyfriends.

"I can't believe he's really descended from Nuada Silverhand," Hermione said with shining eyes. "He must know so much about what really happened to the Tuatha de Danaan."

"I'm more interested in whether he knows his stuff in defense," Draco told her.

"Well I'm more interested in whether or not he's single," Blaise said with a leer.

"Maybe he's not g...gay," Ginny suggested, throwing a quick glance at Harry before looking away quickly.

"That's never stopped him," Draco grinned.

The conversation degenerated to its normal joking at that point, but Harry didn't join in immediately. He was looking at Blaise, noticing the look in his eye. If Blaise was really interested in the man, he would do everything he could to help. After all, all of his friends should be as happy as he was. Of course, if the Irish man hurt his friend... well, that was another thing altogether.

\End Flashback\

His mind drifted away from that conversation as the food appeared in front of him. He knew that Draco and Severus were watching him as for the first time ever, he was able to take full advantage of the feast, knowing that his stomach would be able to take anything he could put in it. And take advantage of it he did.

By the time the feast ended, Harry was groaning from having eaten too much, but he was happy. He stood up with the rest of his table and together they followed the Prefects through the doors and up towards Gryffindor Tower.

Once the newest Gryffindors were shown their rooms, everyone gathered in the Common Room. Before the others could start asking questions, their Head of House stepped in for the welcome speech and listing of rules. Once McGonagall had finished she turned to leave. "Oh, Mr. Potter. Dumbledore would like to speak to you as soon as possible. The password is 'gummy skrewts'."

Harry watched her walk out, but didn't move.

"Aren't you going?" Ron asked.

"Who was she talking to?" Harry asked, smiling darkly. "I don't know any Mr. Potter. My name is Snape."

"Harry!" Hermione remonstrated. "You know she was talking to you."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I also know that if I don't insist from the beginning that they call me Snape, nobody is going to. And I'm proud of that name."

"How can you be?" one Fifth year said disgustedly. "He's so... ugh," she shuddered.

"Not once you get on his good side. Which, admittedly is very hard to do, especially if you're a Gryffindor. We get preferential treatment with too many other teachers, if he wasn't so grossly unfair, the Houses wouldn't be anywhere close to equal."

"Oh, come on, we do not!" a Seventh Year argued.

"Oh yeah? Next time you're in a class with others, keep a count, how many points Gryffs get, compared to the other Houses, especially Slytherin. I think you'll be surprised. And don't even try to tell me it's because we're smarter. We're just better liked. Which isn't fair and you know it."

The conversation didn't get much farther right then since Professor McGonagall walked back into the room. "Mr. Potter? Is there a problem? I believe you were asked to see the Headmaster?"

"Who's Mr. Potter?" Neville asked. "Harry's last name is Snape."

The Transfigurations professor looked at Harry for a long moment before smiling slightly. "Indeed he is, and I've been remiss in not congratulating him on his adoption. Congratulations Harry, Severus is a good man once you get past that prickly exterior of his."

"Oh, I know," Harry responded easily. "And thank you."

"Now, Mr. *Snape*, the Headmaster would like to see you, if you don't mind."

"Certainly, professor. I wouldn't want to keep Dumbledore waiting." Harry stood up and straightened his robes, following his teacher out of the room.

It was time to face the music. Or in this case, the music maker. But just because the old man wrote the notes, didn't mean that he had to follow the tune.

It was time to let Dumbledore know he would not be pushed around. The real question was, how would the old mage take it... and what would he try to do about it.

Part 2/?

Harry took his leave of McGonagall and headed towards the Headmaster's office. Making sure he was out of sight and hearing of the Transfiguration professor, he pulled out a small, circular mirror that had once resided in a compact that he could no longer carry without raising questions. Checking once more to make sure he was alone, he tapped the mirror with his wand and spoke quietly. "Voco Malfoy Study."

It was only seconds before his call was answered by the person he most wanted to see. "Harry," Lucius Malfoy said softly in greeting.

"I miss you," Harry whispered.

"And I, you," Lucius agreed. "But it's only been one day."

"I know, I know," Harry moaned. "But it's still too long."

Lucius decided to change the subject before he got too morose. "How was the inquisition?"

Harry knew what he was doing, but went along with it. "It was cut short by a summons to the Headmaster's office. I'm headed there now."

Lucius drew himself up immediately and looked intently at his lover. "Don't do anything stupid, Harry!"

"I wasn't planning on doing anything stupid. I'm just going to explain some things to him." Harry explained. "I'm not going to let him push me around, he's got to know that."

"Don't go challenging him yet. Not without backup," Lucius ordered.

"I'll be fine, I promise," Harry said, annoyed.

"Do you have the emblem with you?" Lucius asked, knowing there was no way he could talk his partner out of whatever he was planning. Not from where he was anyway.

"Of course I do," Harry answered as he reached the gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's rooms.

"Keep it ready, and leave this on so I can tell if you need rescuing or if he does anything to you," Lucius ordered and this time Harry accepted the commands. After all, it was possible that Dumbledore had messed with their minds before, he could do it again.

Harry set the mirror in one of his pockets and enchanted the cloth so it could be seen through from the inside. He checked to make sure his portkey was within easy reach before speaking the password to the gargoyle and heading upstairs.

"Come in, Harry," Headmaster Dumbledore's voice sounded before he knocked on the door.

Harry walked in and greeted the headmaster before going over to visit Fawkes. He settled onto a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk at the invitation. "Lemon Sherbet?" Dumbledore inquired.

"No thank you," Harry answered politely.

"Well Harry, how does it feel to face a year without Voldemort?" Dumbledore asked with twinkling eyes.

"Wonderful," Harry admitted. "It's nice to come to school without having to worry about getting killed. I'm also happy that I'm not going to have to worry about getting killed by my relatives during the holidays. Now that I've got my father, that is."

"Now, now, my boy, don't you think you're exaggerating just a tad? Staying with your blood relatives really was the safest place for you. It still is. Severus, as good as he is, can't supply you with Wards as strong as the ones at the Dursley's." Dumbledore reminded him.

"But that's okay," Harry answered easily. "Because Voldemort's dead now, so I don't need Wards that strong. Besides, I spent the entire summer away from that house and didn't have any problems. Not to mention the Wards are down now and the Dursleys would never accept me back. I made sure of that." He smirked slightly. "Besides, I'm a Snape now, which means I'm no longer related to them."

A quick glance up showed blue eyes that weren't twinkling very much at all. Harry knew that the only reason things were going so well was that Dumbledore hadn't expected this amount of determination from him. After all, he'd never really fought the old man before. Few people did.

"About that," Dumbledore said ponderously. "I feel it might be best if you continue to use Potter as your name. Using Snape after all this time will just confuse people. It might even make trouble between you and your friends."

Harry could feel a presence in the air all around him. A heaviness in the magic. The words weren't a command, but there was a definite feeling that he should do things the Headmaster's way. Normally he pulled in any loose magic automatically, without even thinking about it, but there was no way he wanted to pull magic that felt like this into him, and now he had enough control not to. "My friends are fine with it. They might not understand what I see in him, but they know I'm happy. That's what's really important to them after all. As for anyone else, they'll just have to accept it and move on. It's really none of their business, you know. I'm not going to answer to Potter anymore. My name on the Ministry's list is no longer Potter, not even the owls can track me down as Potter. Using my true name seems to be a winning situation all around."

"Well, if you're determined, there's really nothing I can do. However, it does leave me in something of a quandary," Headmaster Dumbledore admitted. "It wouldn't really be fair to the other students to allow Professor Snape to continue to teach you; he might be biased..."

He was going to say more, but Harry's sudden burst of laughter stopped him in his tracks. Harry only incidentally realized the magic was moving away from him as if in surprise when he laughed. "You're... you're worried others might think Dad, Severus Snape, biased?" By now he was laughing so hard he slipped out of the chair and landed in a heap on the floor. "What? You think he'll actually give *Gryffindor* points because of me? Are you kidding? He'd rather tap-dance naked in the middle of the Great Hall at dinnertime!" He choked out. "He'd rather ask Hagrid to become his assistant!" He laughed for a while longer before it finally tapered off and he dragged himself back up to his seat. "I don't think you have to worry, sir. Severus might be a lot nicer than he was, as long as there's no gross incompetence around, but he hasn't changed *that* much."

Dumbledore smiled slightly, but it didn't seem to reach his eyes. "Perhaps you're right," he reluctantly agreed. "Still, it's not fair to the other students that you will get to spend a good portion of time with your father, when they have to be away from their families for the year."

Harry looked thoughtful at that. "Well, that's true, but I really don't think they'd care. Most of them seem to think I deserve to finally have a family that cares. Maybe having him around all the time will make up for all the other years when I didn't have one." He got up and made to leave.

Dumbledore's voice stopped him at the doorway. "I did the best I could."

"Maybe that's true," Harry agreed. "But if so, you're a lot less powerful than most people think. Don't worry though, I'll keep your secret." He turned around and left.

He didn't take a deep breath until he was several corridors away from the gargoyle statue. Sitting down in the hallway, he drew out the mirror. "Did you catch all of that?"

"Yes, I did," Lucius answered thoughtfully. "All that was said out loud, at least. I got the idea there was more going on than what I could hear, though."

"It was weird," Harry admitted. "Normally, when I'm in someplace where there's a lot of unused magic, I automatically collect some of it, so I've always got extra on hand, besides what comes from myself. There however, I made sure not to do that. It just felt as if taking in any of the magic around there would have been a very, very bad idea. I know Dumbledore is a mage, too. Could he use the ambient magic around him to have some... I don't know... control over me? There was a definite feeling in the office of 'do what he wants'. Do you understand what I mean?"

"That's certainly a possibility," Lucius' eyes were distracted as he thought. "It would only work completely on mages, but that much controlled magic in one place would impact even regular wizards and would probably be the most indistinguishable way to control someone that I've ever heard of. Especially before you found out how to feel the magic around you and decide what to take in. Before, you would have just accepted any magic in your vicinity and technically he wouldn't even be doing anything. You would be the one taking the magic in. No other wizard would be able to understand just how dangerous something like that could be, considering it's not a spell. If you had actually taken the magic in, you might very well have found yourself doing what he wanted without even being sure why. Like an Imperious, only some form of aura magic, instead of using a specific spell."

He was silent for a moment. "As a matter of fact, that might explain quite a bit. After the fight with Voldemort, we were all completely drained of energy. All four of us would have automatically been pulling any free magic we could find. If Dumbledore came to visit while we were unconscious, which of course he did, there's no telling what he commands he placed within the magic we all took in. It's something we all need to keep in mind. I'll research through the new books we found here and talk to Salazar about it. Why don't you talk to Severus and Draco tomorrow and the three of you start researching it as well."

Harry nodded. "I'll probably ask Hermione to help as well, though I know she wants to research the Tuatha de Danaan right now."

"Interesting topic," Lucius said absently, still thinking of where to start his research and what other secrets might be hiding within his magic.

"Um, the new Defense teacher is descended from them. Hermione's all excited, mostly because he's handsome, I think." Harry said off-handedly. He shook his thoughts free and looked down at the mirror and the small view of his husband's face. "Enough about that for now, how was your day?"

For the next fifteen minutes the two talked quietly about their respective days before it was time to go.

"I love you," Harry whispered, pressing a kiss to the ring he wore.

"I love you too," Lucius answered just as softly.

Reluctantly they canceled the mirror call and went back to their previous pursuits.


	2. Chapter 3, 4, 5 and 6

Four chapters today, though one of them is cut a bit. ^_^. Enjoy!

Part 3/?

The next two weeks passed slowly but inevitably. Harry tried to spend equal amounts of his free time with his father and his friends. There were no sudden upsets in the school, such as Snape suddenly giving points to Gryffindors, or anyone for that matter, except his Slytherins and the occasional Ravenclaw. Blaise was still enamored of the DADA Professor, though he was not the only one by any stretch of the imagination. Professor O'Feahr seemed to know what he was talking about and was competent at instructing his students, as long as they were paying attention to his words and not his body. Harry was still a little wary of him, not sure if he had a part to play in Dumbledore's schemes or not. So far, although the older man seemed to spend a great deal of time watching him, he had made no moves, and Flick did not feel anything untoward from him.

Most people still hadn't realized there were a couple of Alsaspinian minidrags in the school. There had been no death threats or other worrisome behavior. In all, it was becoming almost boringly routine, and as the routine set in, so did the moodiness on the behalf of one nearly married famous Gryffindor.

Harry had become an almost compulsive reader of both the 'Daily Prophet' and the 'Wizarding World' papers. The WW was much fairer in its reporting of the problems and solutions inherent in Malfoy's take-over of the Ministry, however the DP tended to have more personal articles, and by this time Harry would take whatever news of his love he could get. There had been some speculation of the whereabouts of the girl the Minister had been seeing, but none of the articles came anywhere close to the truth.

There'd even been one article about a supposed new romance for the Lord Malfoy. However, since the person he'd been photographed with was number one a woman, and number two of a disposition that would make Pansy Parkinson seem the epitome of pleasant and well behaved, Harry wasn't too worried.

He was, however, becoming very unhappy. He missed his husband, and the separation seemed worse with every day that passed. He managed to spend at least a couple of minutes on the mirror with Lucius every day, but it wasn't enough. He had tried taking care of his own needs at night with silencing charms up, but had found it vastly unsatisfying. Mostly, however, he missed sleeping next to his lover and waking up curled in his arms. Harry tried to hide his growing unhappiness from his friends and family, but what might have worked the year before had no chance of working now. The others knew him too well, and had too good an idea of how he was feeling, not to worry about his occasional bouts of depression. Surprisingly, Severus seemed to be the least worried, as the second weekend came around.

The group was gathered together in an unused classroom on the dungeon level. Some were studying, a couple were talking. Harry was pretending to study, but he wasn't fooling anyone. Normally, when you study, your eyes moved across the page of the book, and you turned a page occasionally; he was doing neither.

Suddenly the door opened and Snape glared around indiscriminately. His eyes took in the changes the room had gone through since the group had taken it over, and stopped on his son. "I require your assistance," he ordered. He looked at the others. "You may come or not, as you wish," he said grudgingly. Without waiting for acknowledgment, he swept out of the room.

Everyone looked around at each other in confusion. Shrugging, they all got up to follow. Not even Hermione could say that studying was more interesting than whatever the Potions Professor had up his sleeve. Internally, most were hoping that whatever they were doing would help pull Harry out of his funk.

Snape stalked his way down the corridor, seemingly ignoring the students following him like ducklings would follow their mother. Leading them deeper into the dungeons, to a part even the Slytherins rarely entered, he finally stopped in front of what seemed to be a blank wall. When he did nothing except turn to look at them, everyone really began to wonder what was going on. Finally, he seemed to get tired of the uncomprehending looks being sent his way. He turned to Harry. "Well?" he asked. "Are you going to open it, or not?"

Harry was completely confused. "Open what?" he asked, looking at the wall. "What are you talking..." his voice trailed off, as his eyes seemed to catch a shadow between two of the stones. It almost looked... like... was that a snake? /Hello?/ he ventured.

Flick and Spitfire both slithered out of the robes they'd been hiding in. */Is something the matter?/*

/I thought I saw.../ Harry's jade green eyes were still caught on that shadow. The shadow that was now moving. It *was* a snake. A thin, black snake that slithered in between the stones. He suddenly realized that it was like the one on the fireplace leading to the Dark Lord's room in Malfoy Manor, and understood what his father wanted. /Open/ he commanded.

The shadow snake moved so fast it almost couldn't be seen, heading for the bottom of the wall, then slithering upwards in as close to a straight line as was possible between the stones. As it reached the top, the stones below it started separating, not pulling back or moving like Diagon Alley's wall, but as if the entire wall was pulling apart. Severus only waited until the door was opened enough for him to slip through before sliding between the stones and disappearing into a room that the students couldn't see into even when the opening was three feet wide. They stood there, looking at each other, before Harry finally shrugged and followed his father into the darkness.

One by one the others followed.

Once they had completely entered the room, they all stopped in utter stupefaction. Seeming in response to their need, light crept up, and they saw that they had entered a room which seemed endless, expanding outward in all directions except where they came in. And every wall they could see was covered in books, only broken up by a couple of doors. The doors themselves showed just how tall the walls of bookshelves were; if the doors were normal size, the bookshelves that had been built even over the top of the doors extended upwards for at least twice that height. Tables and shelves in the middle of the room held artifacts of all sorts; vials and jars, wands and bones, strange metal and glass and wooden contraptions of all sorts. They now could see the source of the lighting; it was from where there were seating arrangements, though the rest of the room remained slightly shadowy. It was possible to tell there were books on the shelves, but not the size or colors of the spines.

"What is this place?" Hermione asked, with awe heavy in her voice.

"This," Severus intoned, "is Salazar Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets."

"What?" Everyone screamed, Harry the loudest of all.

Severus smirked. "I believe my words were clear enough that even the Gryffindors in this group should have been able to understand them."

"But... but... what about the other one, you know, with the giant basilisk I had to kill?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, where my sister almost died!" Ron added.

"According to Salazar, this is the only Chamber of Secrets he has ever had. However, Lucius and I did some research in the libraries found at the Manor. From what we were able to establish, what we had considered the Chamber of Secrets was created by the same sort of person that created the Dark Lord's Common Room in the Manor. It was a shrine to Salazar, and his body was interred there. The basilisk was brought in to guard his mausoleum. Coincidentally, since everyone believed that was the Chamber of Secrets, this one remained concealed."

While those who had had personal dealings with the Chamber tried to fit this information into their worldview, Blaise was looking around with interest. "What are those doors?" he asked.

"They lead to Slytherin's personal rooms," Severus explained.

"Can we go in there?"

Snape's answer was to head towards the doorway while talking. "One of the interesting things about these rooms is that they both are, and are not, a part of Hogwarts. While inside, you will be shown to be within the walls, but it will be impossible for you to be found. They also are different enough to have their own set of emblem portkeys. I will leave it up to you to find out what those are, if you don't already know. In other words," he opened the door he'd been heading towards, and stepped out of the way, practically pushing Harry inside and then closing the door before anyone else could look in, and continued his statement, "someone can use one of the portkeys to come in and no one would know."

He moved the students away from the door, but not before they heard Harry's joyful yell. "Lucius!"

Part 4/?

Lucius paced the length of the sitting room. In a better frame of mind he would have appreciated his surroundings, rich without being ostentatious, comfortable, and in very good taste. A part of his mind was cognizant of the fact that he was in *Salazar Slytherin's* private chambers, but most of his attention was split between Harry's imminent arrival and the job that had almost taken over his life while his son and lover were away.

For the past two weeks he had been focusing almost all of his attention on the Ministry. Things were both better and worse than he had expected. Better, because the position of Minister of Magic gave him even more power than he had expected. Fudge *would* have been able to put all of the reporters in Azkaban. There were in fact very few things the Minister of Magic couldn't do legally. Why more Dark Lords hadn't tried for the job was something he didn't understand. Of course, the wizarding world was in a lot more trouble than he had thought, simply because the last Minister of Magic, and probably the one before that at least, were very good at arse-kissing, but very bad at actually running the place, and seemed to have an aversion to having underlings actually capable of doing their jobs.

Corruption breeds corruption. That is something he had always known, and why minions were so easy to come by. It was also why so many Ministry officials were bribable or susceptible to blackmail. They weren't getting any satisfaction from their jobs, so why not get some satisfaction from screwing their jobs up?

One of the main things he had done to date had come from a recommendation of Harry's. He had spent several days with a couple of muggleborn wizards in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department, learning that Harry had been right. There were things that muggles did better than wizards and that was something that could not and would not be borne. When it came to weapons, the wizards still had the edge, but that edge was far thinner than he had ever considered possible. When it came to ways to make life easier, the muggles were actually ahead in some instances.

His next stop had been the Department of New Spells and Enchanted Items. From the look of things, no new spells or items had been accepted in the past ten years, and technically, selling unapproved items was against the law. He had taken great delight in telling Weasley that his twin sons had been breaking the law with their new joke items. He didn't intend to do anything with the information, but appreciated having it, just in case.

Not everything had been work, some had been simply fun. After all, the new laws hadn't gone into effect yet, and no one would notice if certain people who bothered him too much simply disappeared. No one whom he had *dealt* with would be missed, and that included a certain family of muggles. All signs showed they had moved away, hoping to get away from their problems. He knew Harry hadn't wanted anything *serious* to happen with them, but he hadn't been able to leave it alone. As long as Harry didn't ask, he wouldn't have to decide whether to lie to him. Besides, it's not as if they were dead... just wishing they were.

There had been many complaints about his ruthless use of Veritaserum. However, considering most of the ones who complained were the ones that failed the test, no one was really taking that seriously. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the only section of the Ministry that was still adequately staffed was the Auror division. Perhaps it was because they, more than any other section, had seen the true danger of Voldemort. He had moved some of the higher level Aurors to other divisions, just to give them enough people to deal with emergencies.

Now, however, was not the time to be thinking of all that. Thanks to the portrait of Salazar, Severus, with Spitfire's help, had found this set of rooms and the Chamber just outside of it. To have a place where he could portkey into without Dumbledore knowing, a place where he could meet Harry without having to wait until holidays or Hogsmeade weekends, was worth taking the time off. He knew how much Harry had missed him, and truthfully he had missed the younger man himself. And not just the fantastic sex, although he had missed that greatly.

He missed talking to his mate and having Harry's warm weight curled up in his lap as he sat in the study. He missed just sitting in silence, working on paperwork while Harry read or wrote quietly next to him. He missed the family eating together. Surprisingly, he'd never before realized how large and lonely the Manor was. He found reasons to eat out or stay at work all night, just so he wouldn't have to go to sleep without Harry's warm body next to him.

Lucius suddenly turned towards the door. He heard voices. It was another very long moment before the door opened and Harry came stumbling in, looking around with a confused expression on his face. Lucius knew the moment his green-eyed lover saw him.

"Lucius!" Harry called out joyfully. He ran forward and flung himself into the blonde's arms. Lucius wasn't even given time to respond before Harry's lips were on his.

Lucius' hands roamed over Harry's thin but muscular back and down to the globes of his arse. Harry's hands were fisted in the front of Lucius' robe as their mouths devoured each other, as if their separation had been years instead of weeks. They only broke apart when the need for air grew acute.

"How are you doing?" Lucius asked, without moving his hands from their comfortable positions.

Harry looked at him. "Lucius, I love you and I've missed you, but I'm sixteen years old and I haven't had sex for two weeks. Talking can wait, shagging can't!"

Lucius was surprised into a laugh. "How can I argue with that?" he asked humorously.

"You can't!" Harry replied adamantly. He immediately attached himself again, mouth voracious as his hands worked feverishly on the buttons of Lucius' robe.

It took some doing, but Lucius managed to get them moving towards the bedroom he'd found while exploring earlier. His robe was unbuttoned and being worked off before they reached the side of the bed.

With a sudden heave, Lucius picked Harry up and tossed him lightly onto the bed, shrugging off his hindering robe and pulling off both of their shoes before following his lover down onto the satin sheets. He pushed Harry's hands above his head. "Leave them there." He purred the order, knowing what that tone of voice ordering him around did to his lover. Noticing Harry's shirt was tucked in, he pulled back to start working on unbuckling his belt. After sliding it free, he held it for a moment, looking consideringly between the leather and Harry's wrists. Reluctantly, he decided against it, not sure Harry was ready for that yet, and tossed the belt off the side of the bed.

He rose up to kiss Harry as he started working open the buttons. His mouth moved down, sucking and licking his chin and neck. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Harry's hands clenching and unclenching, but not moving from where he'd placed them. Harry was already making soft whimpering sounds as Lucius sucked hard on his neck.

Once he'd undone all the buttons and had created a sufficiently dark mark on Harry's neck, Lucius started moving down, his hands petting over ribs and stomach as he moved his mouth towards a nipple. He reached it and sucked hard, only to find hands pushing on his head and sounds of discomfort coming from his lover. "Please stop," Harry whispered.

"What's the matter?" Lucius asked worriedly. "I wasn't too rough, was I?" He didn't think he was being too rough. He'd bitten him there before without a complaint.

"No," Harry answered, shaking his head almost wildly. "They're just kind of tender."

Lucius raised an eyebrow and smirked. "And what have you been doing to make them tender?" he asked with interest.

"Nothing," Harry protested.

"Right," Lucius agreed indulgently. "Is there anything else that's too tender to touch?" He looked downward, inquiringly. He realized something else as he looked down. "You're still bare," he said, pleased. "Everywhere?"

Harry nodded and pulled his shirt all the way off before putting his hands back over his head. "Yes, yes!"

"Maybe I should check, just in case," Lucius said thoughtfully.

Harry mewled his agreement, arching his hips in invitation.

Afterwords, they lay there together for a while, just basking in the comfort of not being alone.

They talked quietly about nothing in particular, both not wanting the first time they'd been together in so long to get too serious. They knew they'd have to talk about the things that had come up, but not yet, not now. For this moment they just wanted to bask in being together, and, of course, see how quickly they could recover any lost stamina.

Part 5/?

Severus closed the door and threw up a silence barrier. It was entirely possible that the rooms behind the Chamber were soundproofed, but he didn't wish to find out the hard way. He'd learned long before to take all the precautions reasonably possible, although they were usually for more life and death situations than this.

He looked at the door for a moment, remembering the happiness in that one shout he had heard. Regardless of how it seemed to others, he had been very worried about his son. The difference was, he knew Lucius would be showing up sooner rather than later. The reasons he had not told anyone were because he had wanted it to be a surprise and there had not been a guarantee of when Lucius would be able to show up so he had not wanted to get Harry's hopes up.

Harry had tried to look as if everything was normal, but he hadn't been able to fool Severus. Not that he'd always been down; Severus hid a smile as he remembered Harry's expression during one of their extra lessons. The potion had been very difficult, but Harry had managed to get it right without any help. This was still a big deal. Even though Harry was much better than he had been in Potions class, it would never be his best subject. He would never have the pure love of it that Severus and Draco did. He was at least competent at it, and occasionally even better. That time, he'd done exceedingly well. Severus had even given House points. To Slytherin. After all, it was obviously Harry's Slytherin side that made him good at potions, therefore it made more sense to give Slytherin the points for a correct potion.

Harry's expression of shock had been priceless. Draco had fallen over laughing. Harry had argued of course, but once he got over the shock, Severus could see the amusement in his eyes as they argued over the fairness of awarding points to the rival house. He was still waiting for Harry to get back at him for that one. He knew his son wouldn't let it go without retaliation.

Turning back to the students, he found they had already wandered away. Obviously, the lure of all the new books and items was too much for them, even Weasley, who was far and away the least studious of the group. In fact... he hurried over to where the red-headed Gryffindor and Blaise were looking at some of the items on display. He quickly glanced over them to make sure they did not include anything that even the youngest Weasley boy could make dangerous. Reassured on that score, he checked on the other two.

Unsurprisingly, Granger was already reading a book she had pulled off the shelf. He wasn't concerned about that; none of the books low enough to be reached while standing on the ground were dangerous. Not to mention that the bushy haired girl had enough sense not to play around with something she wasn't sure about. Unfortunately, she was too much a Gryffindor not to eventually try things out, but she was usually good about researching adequately first.

Draco was wandering around reading the titles of the books he could reach. He ran across a small platform with rails on three sides. The other side lay right at the edge of the bookcase. "Severus?" he called out. "What is this?"

The Potions Professor walked over and stepped through the small gap in the railing and onto the slightly upraised platform "Step up," he told him. He was thankful that he had spent as much time as possible in this room since he'd managed to find it. Even with Salazar's help, it hadn't been exactly easy. The only difference between that section of wall and any other was the almost indistinguishable snake like a moving shadow in between the stones. If it hadn't been for Spitfire's keen eyes, he never would have managed to find it, much less have gotten it open without the minidrag's hissing. Now, however, he could look all-knowing in front of the Gryffindors. Always a good thing.

He told Draco to bring out his wand and place the tip into a small hole in the railing. Making sure at least an inch of its length was securely in the hole, he stepped back down. "Push forward on your wand. Carefully!" The last part was said too late as the platform flew upward at a rapid rate, stopping when the ceiling was a foot above Draco's head. Well, where his head would have been if he hadn't dropped into a crouch as he saw the ceiling getting closer.

Severus used a spell to extend his voice towards the blond boy. "CAREFULLY pull your wand backwards." When the platform had reached the floor again, Severus was scowling. "If you want it to go slow, you must push it just a *little*. Forward makes it go up, backward goes down and left and right will send you in that direction." He waited to make sure that Draco had some control before heading over to one of the tables. Placing his hand on it, he spoke softly. "Aura magic."

"Whoa!" Draco screamed from ten feet in the air as a book exploded out of the bookcase right in front of him. Even Hermione looked up as books flew from all over the room to land on the table in front of the Potions Master.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked, awed.

Severus nodded at one of the two other long tables in the room. "Place your hand upon it and call out the topic you wish to research. As long as there are less than twenty-five books on the subject, they will all pile up there. If there are more than twenty-five, the twenty-five with the most information will appear."

Hermione walked over to the table to try it out. "Tuatha de Danaan," she said strongly.

"Oh, give it up, 'Mione! Haven't you learned everything you can about him by now?" Ron groaned.

"Are you jealous?" Blaise smirked. "After all, he's a red-head too. And he's more mature and handsome than you."

Severus unobtrusively rolled his eyes. Connor O'Feahr had been a major topic of all the classes since he'd shown up. He remembered his first meeting with the Defense Professor.

/Flashback/

Severus settled into his seat, unobtrusively looking around. He didn't like Harry being away from the protection of both himself and Lucius. Even if it was just for the amount of time he'd been on the Hogwarts Express. After all, at least one of those delivering death threats was a student. There was no guarantee he was safe there. Even if Flick and his friends were with him, Draco among them.

His attention was instantly caught when an adult that he didn't know walked into the room. The auburn haired, tanned young man moved gracefully through the room to speak to Dumbledore before moving towards the empty chair next to him. As he settled into the chair, he smiled and held out his hand for a shake. Severus just stared at him, one eyebrow raised.

The new man didn't seem dismayed by his chilly reception. "I be Connor O'Feahr, Professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ye can call me Connor."

"Professor Snape, Potions. You may call me Professor Snape," Severus remarked cooly.

"Snape, are ye?" Connor said thoughtfully. "Met a boy name a' Harry Snape on the train. Any relation?"

"My son," Severus replied harshly, hardly able to keep the pride out of his voice.

"He seemed ta' be a nice boy," Connor ventured.

"Indeed," was all Severus answered. The students were entering the room and Severus quickly checked on his favorites. Everyone seemed to be okay and in good spirits.

"'Tis a hard time he's had," Connor said thoughtfully, looking at the green-eyed boy.

"I don't see why that's any of your business," Severus stated, his entire attention suddenly taken by the man beside him.

"Can I na' worry about a young man soon ta be in my charge?" O'Feahr said sincerely.

"If you have any worries about him, they are to be brought to *my* attention," Severus ordered, his black eyes burning into the dark blue, almost violet eyes of the new professor. "*You* are not to approach him in *any* form beyond what is strictly necessary for the performance of your duties. You will not hold him back to speak to him alone after class, and if you truly feel it necessary to give him a detention, it will be with Filch. If he decides to approach you, that is his prerogative, but if I hear of you even *speaking* to him unnecessarily, I will deal with you myself. Do you understand?"

Severus had managed to load those commands with a good portion of the malice of he was capable, and knew he sounded deadly dangerous. Just as well, because that's exactly what he was. Connor however, only blinked and looked slightly startled.

"Being a little harsh there, are ye na'?" was his soft response.

"Of the past five holders of your position, two actively tried to kill him, two almost got him killed through sheer stupidity and utter incompetence, and one was dangerous in and of himself. Until you prove to me, as unlikely a possibility as that might be, that you are not a danger to him, you *will* stay away from him. I am more than capable of making your life a living Hell, and certainly more than *willing* to do so. Have I made myself clear?

"Aye, that ye have," Connor agreed, resignedly. Severus noticed the way the DADA professor's eyes flickered, just momentarily, over to Dumbledore after he had promised and tucked that observation away for later.

/End Flashback/

Since then O'Feahr had done exactly as he'd agreed. As far as Severus had been able to tell, and he'd asked Harry a time or two, Connor had done nothing more than occasionally watch the younger boy intently. That behavior, however, had not endeared his DADA counterpart to the Potions Professor, who still kept his eye on him, just in case. The auburn-haired young man had tried to start up conversations with Severus several times, but the Potions Master was being decidedly uncommunicative towards him. He had noticed that the descendent of the Sidhe had been receiving a fair number of letters and propositions from the older students, both female and occasionally male, but seemed to be turning them all down politely while seeming to be slightly uncomfortable with the attention. He supposed he should be getting less enjoyment out of that situation, but then, he was a Slytherin, after all.

After several peaceful hours, he sent everyone except Draco up to dinner. When he rang a small bell he pulled out of his sleeve, the new house elf for these rooms popped in. "Cattie, will you please go inform Harry that he is expected to have dinner with his family in half an hour?" he asked politely.

The house elf nodded silently and popped back out.

"Wasn't that one of ours?" Draco asked, confused.

"Actually, Lucius gave her to Harry for his birthday," Severus reminded him. "Since she wouldn't have much to do in the Manor with Harry gone, it was decided that she could take care of these rooms. That way, they'll stay clean and ready to be used without the school elves knowing of this space. Plus, we'll be able to eat together, since Lucius would not be able to go through the halls to my rooms."

Thirty-five minutes later, the door Harry had vanished through opened once more. "I suppose you can come in," Harry sighed in a put-upon voice, however he was smiling too much for anyone to take it seriously.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" Draco smirked.

"Immensely," Harry smirked right back. "Your father did this thing…"

Draco's hand covered Harry's mouth before he could say anything more. "I think that's all I need to know," he muttered in a sick voice.

"And more than I wanted to," Severus agreed. He sighed. At least Harry was truly smiling once again, all traces of unhappiness wiped from his face. It was worth a great deal, to see that expression on his son's face.

Part 6/?

Dinner started out normally for this mismatched family. Conversation was light and drifted from classes and the new professor to work at the Ministry.

All three of the others noticed that Harry's appetite seemed to be in fine form as he reached for thirds. "Hungry, are you?" Lucius purred wickedly.

Harry blushed with embarrassment and quickly put back the meat pie he'd just grabbed. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "I didn't mean to be a pig."

Severus glared at Lucius, before picking the meat pie back up and placing it on his son's plate. "He didn't mean it that way," Severus told him severely. "We're all happy that you've got such an appetite."

Harry smiled slightly, though it didn't reach his eyes. "It's okay," he said, putting the meat pie back on the platter. "I hadn't realized how full I was."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course you're full, after all you ate so much at breakfast and lunch, didn't you?" he asked snidely.

Harry glared at Draco. He knew what kind of response that would get from the two overprotective ones. And he was right; both Severus and Lucius jumped on that statement immediately.

"Was there something wrong? Are you feeling all right?" Severus asked worriedly, reaching for his wand.

"What does he mean?" Lucius almost barked. "Did you eat today?"

Harry sighed in aggravation. "I'm fine! I wasn't feeling very well this morning, so I didn't eat breakfast, then I went back to bed after quidditch practice and slept through lunch. But I'm feeling fine now. I was just a little hungry, but now I've eaten, and everything's okay."

"Why didn't you have that pet house elf of yours get you a snack?" Severus asked, still holding his wand as if he was going to use it.

"I only missed two meals!" Harry groaned. "I've gone a lot longer than that without food; it's no big deal! I knew I'd be eating dinner tonight, there was no need to send Dobby for a snack."

"Did you go see Madam Pomfrey?" Severus asked.

"For an upset stomach that went away after I got some sleep? I don't think so! Do you know what she'd do if I showed up in the Hospital this early in the year? Especially for something that didn't even need medicine to clear up? *I* *am* *fine*! My stomach does not hurt, I don't feel sick, and I just ate plenty. There's nothing going on here, so just leave it alone!"

They did, mostly because Harry was getting so worked up about it, but Severus made a mental note to keep an eye on Harry's eating for the next couple of days. Lucius glared at Draco until he got the idea he was to do the same thing. Of course, he was already doing that, which was one reason he knew that Harry hadn't shown up for meals that day.

Severus had one last thing to say. "Since you didn't eat today, maybe you should have a little more."

Harry shook his head. "That's okay, I've had enough. I don't want to get fat, after all," he said, semi-humorously, but with the image of Dudley in his head.

The other three looked him up and down as if he was crazy. "That's not going to happen," they said, almost in unison.

Harry just laughed at their synchronicity. They were so alike sometimes.

"At least drink your pumpkin juice," Severus mostly gave up. "It's good for you."

Harry rolled his eyes and wrinkled his nose, but picked up his goblet. He'd never quite gotten into pumpkin juice. There was nothing really wrong with it, it was just an acquired taste, and he'd never really acquired it. He drank it mostly because there usually wasn't much else to drink at Hogwarts. He took a gulp of the juice, before stopping. "Oh," he said, a bit happier. "It's your kind of pumpkin juice." The juice he'd had at Malfoy Manor was much better than the usual at Hogwarts.

"What do you mean by that?" Lucius asked.

"Hmm?" Harry hummed. "Oh, it's just that yours tastes better."

Severus frowned and took a drink. "It tastes just like it always has," he said.

Draco shook his head. "Maybe the stuff they give the teachers is fresher, or something, but Harry is right, school pumpkin juice isn't the greatest."

"It leaves an aftertaste," Harry explained.

Severus' frown intensified, his dark brows lowering over his gleaming eyes. "It's supposed to be the same." He turned to his apprentice. "Get me a sample of your pumpkin juice in the morning," he ordered. "I would prefer to check it to be sure."

"You think there might be a potion in it?" Lucius asked, all good humor gone from his expression.

"It might not be anything bad," Harry suggested, though he didn't look as if he truly believed it. "Maybe it's just a cold preventive or something. I've heard that in America they sometimes put something in the tap water to help keep your teeth strong. Maybe it's something like that."

"Perhaps you're right," Severus said, but it was obvious he didn't believe it.

Those comments brought everyone's minds to the topic they had been avoiding. Dumbledore.

"Is everyone finished eating?" Lucius asked. When assured that they were, he moved to a nearby sitting area. The others quickly followed. Harry immediately curled up by his side.

Now that the topic had been raised, Harry had some questions. "It doesn't make any sense," Harry complained. "If what we've been speculating is right, and Dumbledore used this 'aura magic' to place compulsions in us while we were drained and unconscious, how come he didn't just tell us not to doubt him or question him? Why just the command not to wonder about the newspaper articles? He's not the kind of person to deal with just short-term goals."

"What I want to know, is, if it's any use against wizards, or only against mages, and did Voldemort have this ability as well?" Draco asked. "We've been looking in the Library, but there's really almost nothing there."

"Luckily, there's quite a bit more in the Chamber," Severus told them. "All four of the Founders were mages, so they had researched quite a bit. Since their time however, there have rarely been more than one or two known mages in Britain per generation, and they never worked together, in fact they preferred not to be near each other. Rumors abounded that they were dangerous to each other and could perhaps even control each other, so they stayed as far apart as possible. The basis for those rumors seems to be what Lucius called 'aura magic'. It was a very good term; did you hear it before?" Severus asked.

Lucius thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Not as far as I can recall. It just seemed to fit what Harry reported."

"Indeed, it did," Severus agreed. "Surprisingly, it's the term the Founders used as well, which is why I asked. Aura magic can be used by anyone capable of doing wandless magic, although mages use it best simply because it requires a very large amount of power to blanket even a small area. It is also best used *against* mages, who pull magic from outside into themselves and thus would pull the commands straight in. It can be used against normal wizards, but will not be as efficient; it simply smothers them in the feeling or command that the one casting is trying to convey. Like Imperious, the closer the command is to what the person truly wishes to do, the harder it is to fight. When you are being told what you wish to hear and are covered in an aura saying, 'This is the truth, trust me', it would be very hard to resist. A message you already want to believe is being confirmed, then combined with another message to believe the caster. That is the best way to gain someone's trust, always lead with the 'truth' as they want to hear it, then add your own message. And yes, I do believe that is what Voldemort did to coerce many of his people to follow him. Once they received his Mark, it was too late to do anything about it. As for why Dumbledore did not do more when it was easiest, or if he did do more, but we haven't yet figured it out, that I do not know." Severus finished.

Draco looked thoughtful. "Could he have been testing it? Maybe he just found out about it, or was testing to see if it would work on other mages?"

"It would fit," Lucius said, considering the idea. "However, I find it hard to believe the Headmaster would not have access to more books than there are in the school Library, perhaps even Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's personal libraries. As for the second idea, although it is *possible* that Dumbledore didn't know about you, myself and Severus being mages, everyone that knew what truly happened at Godric's Hollow should have been able to figure out that *Harry* was. I find it hard to believe he wasn't using it on Harry before."

There was silence for a moment before Harry spoke quietly. "Who says he wasn't? I've done several very stupid things that I never quite understood *why* I did, and there were several times he spoke to me just before they happened. True, it *could* have been just because I was insufferably Gryffindor, but what if it wasn't?"

"Which just leads to even more unanswered questions," Draco groaned.

"We're talking about Headmaster Dumbledore," Harry said in what would have been a humorous voice if his face hadn't looked so bleak. "When have we ever had answers?"

Silence was the only reply he received.


	3. Chapter 7, 8 and 9

I had a bad day at work... so I'm being mean ^_^. Maybe you should tell the kids to straighten up?

Enjoy!

Part 7/?

Severus stalked down the dark corridor.

"Professor Snape!" An Irish voice called from behind him.

Severus turned and scowled at the professor running up to him. "O'Feahr," he bit out in greeting.

"It's sorry I be to bother ye," Connor said, not sounding sorry at all. "But would ye be knowing where Harry is at?"

"At this time of night, I believe he's in bed, preferably asleep." Snape said in a bored voice.

The auburn-haired man shook his head. "He's not in his dormitory."

"Did I say anything about him being in the dorms?" The Potions Professor said coldly.

"Then where would he be?" Connor asked.

Severus started striding down the corridor, forcing the other man to scurry to keep up. "You would find, if you bothered to look, that the School Code allows for a student who is the child of a teacher to spend the weekend, including the nights, in his parent's rooms, if he so wishes."

"Did he eat with ye too? Noticed I did that he was na' in the Great Hall during meals today."

Severus stopped abruptly and turned, his robes swirling around his ankles. He felt malicious amusement as the usually graceful descendent of the Tuatha de Danaan almost stumbled, trying to stop and face him. None of that amusement showed in his expression as he glared menacingly at the other man. "And why were you paying attention?" he said in a low, dark voice. "I told you that he wasn't any of your business, did I not? I warned you about having anything to do with him outside of your duties as his teacher. Those do not include making sure he is eating or sleeping. Those are my responsibilities, as his father. Stay away from him. I will not warn you again." He turned back around and strode off down the corridor, leaving Connor standing behind him, staring thoughtfully after him.

Harry, meanwhile, was curled up in his husband's arms, sleeping better than he had in weeks.

Connor O'Feahr, descendent of the Tuatha de Danaan, in truth, of Nuada Silverhand himself, stared after the Potions Professor intently. The conversation he had just had confused him, as did most conversations he had with the dark and dour ex-Death Eater. He was not at all as he had expected, not as Dumbledore had painted him. He seemed to honestly care about the boy, but there was still something...

Nothing said had been a lie, Connor was sure of that; but if Harry was in Snape's quarters, why did Dumbledore not know where he was? From what he had learned, the Headmaster should be able to find the exact location of every student of the school who was inside the walls of the castle. And yet, he had admitted that he could not find the boy, although he was sure he was still within the building. His being within the Potions Professor's quarters should not explain that.

Connor did not like not knowing where the young boy was. He had been brought here for one reason, to protect the child from any who might wish to harm him, and that included his new father. Just because Harry trusted him, did not mean he could be trusted. But how could he protect him if he could not get close to him?

He had managed to meet Harry on the train as planned, but the child had refused to stay with him, instead taking him to his friends. While the conversation had been entertaining, and the young Miss Granger interesting to talk to, it had not gotten him any closer to his goals. Young Harry had not even paid attention, much less been intrigued, as he had hoped. Even if he had not been warned away from talking to the boy after class, the child himself would not allow it, always having one of his friends standing by through any conversation. He had spoken to the Deputy Headmistress and she had confirmed the bad experiences the boy had with past holders of his position. Therefore, he could not say that this paranoia was unwarranted. He had thought that this job would be a good way to get the Golden Boy's trust. Instead, it was just the opposite.

Snape was turning into a true challenge. Connor had no doubt that the dangerous wizard meant what he said. Of course, there were few potions that could truly adversely affect a member of the Sidhe, but then again, he was a Potions Master, and if anyone could make or create such a potion, it would be he. There were no real signs at this moment that the Headmaster's worries about the child being abused by his new father were true. He had not withdrawn from his friends, he was wary of strangers, but not of those he considered friends or family. He was much smaller than he should be based upon his age and what he had been told about his biological parents' stature, but there were several possible explanations for that. Still, Dumbledore had obviously been worried.

/Flashback/

It was almost two weeks before the start of the school year when Connor O'Feahr strode up to the front doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Headmaster Dumbledore met him at the door, and after greeting him, lead the way up to his office. That gave Connor time to get used to how old the other man looked. Although he was part human and had grown up partly in the human world, things like that still surprised him, especially since he had friends in their hundred and fifties who looked only a little older than he himself. Of course, if he had been full-blooded he wouldn't have been here; being only sixty-four he would still have been considered a child for at least another couple of decades.

Connor looked around the office in interest. There were many people in portraits on the walls, many almost as old looking as the real human in the office. There was also a phoenix, a species of bird he'd only seen once or twice before. He hoped he'd get to hear it sing before he left. He looked across the office, to see Dumbledore smiling at him while he waited patiently for him to have his fill of looking around.

Once he sat down, the Headmaster offered him a sweet, which he declined, and tea, which he didn't. They engaged in small talk for a couple of minutes before Connor finally allowed his curiosity to take over, and asked why he was here.

Dumbledore sighed deeply. "I've heard that the Sidhe have an affiliation with abused children, and I am very afraid that we might have one here. Even worse, I have reason to believe it might be one of my teachers who is doing so. The child I'm speaking of is Harry Potter. I do not know if you've heard of him."

"Me mother is a witch of your sort," Connor explained. "I do know who Harry Potter be."

"Harry was raised by Muggles, so he came to Hogwarts knowing nothing about our world," Dumbledore explained. "He and Professor Snape had an adversarial relationship from the very first. Severus seemed to blame him for being James' son, even though Harry knew almost nothing about his father. I tried to mediate where I could, without undermining his authority."

Dumbledore looked worried as he continued. "Things changed last year. Although Severus had always given Harry more detentions than were perhaps necessary, it suddenly seemed as if there wasn't a day when the boy *wasn't* in detention. He'd give him weeks of detention instead of a single day. I'd call Severus in and force him to bring it to an end, only to have Harry get another one the next Potions class. Even more alarming, was the fact that Harry was withdrawing from his friends. He also seems to have lost all respect and trust for me."

"Then Lucius Malfoy got involved. I don't know exactly how, except perhaps through his son Draco, who was also spending a large amount of time with Severus, who is his Head of House. I admit I don't trust Malfoy; he has done all he can to force me to leave Hogwarts during critical times, and he was long a supporter of Voldemort. He says he helped to defeat him, but only he, his son, Harry, and Severus, who was Malfoy's best friend while they were both schoolboys here, know the truth."

"This summer, I tried to separate Harry from Severus, keeping my Potions Professor here with important work, while Harry went back to his relatives. About a month into summer, Harry disappeared from his Aunt's house. We tried to keep it quiet, not wishing to alarm the public while we searched for him. However, the first time he was seen was at Malfoy's Manor. The Manor was searched, but there was no sign of the boy. Severus, however, was there at the time. Harry was only seen twice more over the summer, both times in the company of Malfoy and Snape. Once, when he, in effect, forced the wizarding world to accept Malfoy as Minister of Magic. I can't believe he would do that of his own choice."

"The other was even more worrying. Three days ago he showed up at Diagon Alley. Lucius Malfoy announced that Harry had been adopted by Severus Snape," Dumbledore pulled out the issue of the Daily Prophet in which that was the main story, and handed it over. "There is something simply 'off' about Harry in that picture. I can't put my wand on exactly what is wrong, but he is not acting correctly. I can't help but consider that he was in some way forced into accepting this. Perhaps even compelled into it."

"He is currently here at Hogwarts; however, no one has seen him. He is locked into Professor Snape's quarters, and no one is being allowed in. Severus says that he is grounded. I have no reason or excuse for not believing Severus, or even for questioning him more strongly, but you can understand why I am worried, can you not?"

"Indeed, I can," Connor said thoughtfully. "So ye would be hoping that I find proof."

"I think Harry has been looking for a father figure, and perhaps grabbed onto Severus because there was no one else available. Perhaps you can be a better choice, get him to trust you, and help remove Snape and Malfoy's influence. If there is any sign of abuse, I need to know."

/End Flashback/

He'd highly enjoyed working with the children. Children were precious to a race that had very few. It's why they were known to take away abused children and raise them Underhill. He'd already noticed a couple of students that he would be watching closer, and suggesting several others also watch during the summer.

Harry, however, was still giving him mixed signals. He would continue to watch.

Part 8/?

Harry hovered miserably over the toilet bowl. He'd thought he was over this! The only good thing was that he'd thought to put up a silence barrier so he wasn't disturbing Lucius. He resolutely ignored the part of his mind that was saying that cuddles from his husband would feel really good right now. Then again, as wonderful as Lucius usually was, he wasn't sure he could actually see him taking care of him while he was sick.

"Mistress Jade?" a soft voice asked from behind him. "Mistress Jade is sick?"

"Hey, Cattie," Harry said weakly. "Yeah, I'm not feeling too well. I'll be okay, though."

Cattie looked Harry over and her large eyes widened comically. "Cattie help!" she said happily. She disappeared only to show up mere moments later with a tray.

"I don't know if I can eat anything right now," Harry gulped, his face whitening even more at the thought.

Cattie ignored him, pouring a cup of tea and handing it to him. "Drink! It help!"

Harry wasn't particularly interested in trying it, but the shy house elf looked so earnest he couldn't say no. He carefully took the cup and raised it to his nose, sure he'd be back over the toilet bowl immediately. But the tea smelled really good, some kind of fruity blend that didn't smell familiar, and it didn't make his stomach roil. He took a tentative sip, but it actually seemed to help. After several more sips, he was looking with interest at the plain toast that was also on the tray.

By the time Lucius was awake, Harry was feeling much better. He was still dreading breakfast though; just the thought of a normal fried breakfast threatened to send his stomach back to the toilet bowl, tea or no tea. Luckily Cattie seemed to know that; breakfast was porridge and fruit. Lucius was about to say something about it before he noticed the way Harry dug in.

Harry looked around the rooms after breakfast, during which Cattie was very solicitous of 'Mistress Jade'. "You know," Harry said thoughtfully, "I could probably keep Jade's clothes here. That way, they wouldn't be in my stuff if someone was looking, nor would you have a room at the Manor with girl's stuff in it."

"And of course, the fact that you would have them nearby, and a room in which you can wear them, doesn't have anything to do with it," Lucius teased gently.

Harry blushed and looked away.

"Harry, you know I have no problem with Jade. If you're missing dressing as Jade, then by all means bring your clothes down here." Lucius got up and went towards a small chest on one of the small tables scattered around the sitting room. He opened the box and pulled out a small pin with two snakes curled up in a double S pattern. "This will help."

"An emblem portkey?" Harry murmured.

"Indeed," Lucius answered. "This way, you can enter these rooms from anywhere, within Hogwarts or without. No one will be able to trace you to these rooms if you portkey in. The only real problem is making sure no one sees you leave."

Harry ran over, took the emblem and pinned it to the inside of his pocket, right next to the portkey to Malfoy Manor.

"Harry? Are you alright?" Lucius was suddenly worried as Harry paled and gulped.

Harry quickly reached for the tea that was still on the table. He really should have known better than to move so quickly, but he'd thought the nausea that had plagued him that morning was gone. Obviously, he was incorrect. Luckily, the tea was still working. He'd have to remember to get some to take with him, in case he wasn't over whatever bug this was by the time he left.

Two hours later, it was time to go. It had been reluctantly decided that Harry needed to be in the Great Hall for lunch, since he hadn't eaten there in a day and a half and it was going to get remarked upon. Lucius left, feeling slightly worried. The morning had been well spent, with Harry curled up in his arms as they talked, but there was something slightly off. He was determined to call Severus as soon as feasible, to point out his worries. He simply would avoid the fact that one warning sign was Harry's disinterest in early morning sex, something that had been a staple from almost the beginning.

Harry left the rooms reluctantly, taking with him a flask full of Cattie's special tea with a warming spell upon it. He was not looking forward to lunch. His stomach was feeling much better, but it wasn't perfect, still occasionally threatening to erupt at abrupt movements or strong smells.

Flick hissed a warning as he walked down a dungeon corridor. "Well, well, well, what have we here?" A taunting voice said from behind him.. "A lost little Gryffindor who thinks he should be a Slytherin?"

Harry looked around to see Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle and a couple Slytherins he didn't know coming toward him. Flick was moving restlessly on his shoulder ready to take flight and defend him, and he was suddenly very glad she was there.

"What do you want, Parkinson?" he asked warily, his hand firm on his wand.

"Me, Potter?" Pansy said in mock innocence. "I don't want anything. I just thought you might be lost, that's all."

"Sure you did," Harry said sarcastically. "By the way, the name is Snape, not Potter. It's not that difficult a name, I believe you know someone else with that name, after all."

Pansy's face twisted into a sneer. "I don't know how you forced him into that," she growled, "or what you've done to Drakie, but once you're gone, they'll go back to normal."

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, because I'm not going anywhere." Harry answered strongly, his eyes trying to watch all of them at once.

"Who said we were giving you a choice?" Pansy purred, pulling her wand.

That was as much as Flick would take. With a hiss she exploded out from under Harry's robes. The gathered Slytherins shrieked in fear as the flying reptile hovered menacingly in front of their faces. Those that weren't paralyzed by fear, which were those that didn't know what she was, backed slowly away. It was at that point they heard a sound that was even more fearsome than the hissing of the minidrag in front of them.

"Is there a problem here?" Snape's dark voice took up the job where Flick had left off.

Pansy shrieked out, "Professor! He's threatening us with a dangerous creature! Save us!"

"Miss Parkinson," Snape purred, walking forward. "Exactly what did you do to get threatened by such a dangerous creature?"

"I didn't do anything! Potter was down here where he doesn't belong, and when we told him so, that... that... thing jumped out at us!" She looked pleadingly at her Head of House, batting her eyes seductively. Her eyes went wide as a triangular shaped head poked out of her professor's robes.

"My son belongs where ever he wishes to go," was the Potions Professor's response. "It would behoove you to remember that his name is Snape, and he is to be treated as a *Snape*. Is that understood?"

With his tone of voice, they had no choice but to agree. Arguing with their Head of House when he spoke like that was not a good idea. He never took House points, but he had very *creative* punishments for members of his House that broke the rules he considered important. Obviously, bothering Harry now fell into that category.

"But what about that... snake?" Goyle spoke up.

"Flick, like Spitfire here," Severus responded as he petted the head of his own minidrag, "is not dangerous as long as you are not a danger to their bondmate. They will, however, respond appropriately to any threat. You don't need to worry, they've promised not to actually kill anyone. Of course, considering their venom is an acid, that might not be completely comforting."

With that he gathered Harry to his side and the two of them swept off, flanked by a flying pair of snakes.

Harry held his relieved chuckles in until they were out of hearing distance of the group, but he was also a trifle annoyed. "You could at least have taken points," he muttered. "They were threatening me, after all."

"Perhaps I could have," Severus agreed easily. "They would have preferred it to the punishment I will be giving them."

"Let me guess, a report?" Harry grinned.

Severus just smirked evilly.

Part 9/?

The next several days were... interesting, to say the least. The nausea continued, every morning and usually far into the afternoon, as did the tiredness. Cattie's tea was a lifesaver, and the flask rarely left Harry's side. Of course, that led to some interesting confrontations.

When Hermione inquired what was in the flask and asked for a taste, it was amusing. When Draco grabbed the flask to check it out himself, it was humorous. When Ron and Neville pulled their wands and demanded to know who he was and where the real Harry was, it got a little old. He just handed the flask over to his father before he could ask. Shadows of Moody abounded.

Parkinson, Goyle and their friends were looking as exhausted as he was feeling most afternoons. They were also going out of their way to stay out of his presence. He hadn't found out what their punishment was, but if the evil chuckle Draco gave when he asked was any indication, he might not want to know.

He found himself in the Chambers quite often, with or without his friends. Cattie was a godsend, not only because of the tea, but because she seemed to know what he wanted before he did. Even when he wanted something weird, she didn't seem to have any trouble filling the order. The bed was always turned down with fresh sheets, which was great since he seemed to need an afternoon nap every day. He was also spending most of his time there as Jade, although without the breast prosthetics; his nipples were still too tender for that.

He knew he should tell his father that he was still feeling sick. He didn't want to be grounded again, and he didn't want to have to do another report. He also didn't want to tell. In his head he knew that nothing really bad would happen if he told; he'd probably even be well by now if he had told in the beginning. His heart, however, was still screaming that he shouldn't be a burden by being sick. People didn't like people who were burdens. Of course, then he felt even worse, because he knew how Severus would take his feeling like that.

That's not to say Severus didn't know something was wrong. Of course he did. Everyone did. He wasn't hiding it nearly as well as he thought he was. Of course, that just meant that Harry was getting more edgy every hour, as more and more people were watching his every move. Even Lucius was calling both Harry and Severus more often. However, the only thing Severus was able to tell Lucius was that the pumpkin juice did, indeed, contain a potion. At least now they knew why there were no children having children in Hogwarts; the contraceptive potion in the juice made sure of that. It was also the sort of potion that would require only one extra ingredient, probably added to the juice at the Leaving Feast, to last over the summer vacation.

The real question was why wasn't Severus the one making the potion. It wasn't as if he had any ethical qualms over making it. Personally, he thought it was a good idea. Not only would students have a difficult time trying to learn while being pregnant, but the chances were great that their magic would begin to act up while pregnant, as the child's magic interacted with their own.

Connor was also becoming more worried. Harry seemed to be avoiding almost everyone. The only time he could be found was while he was in class, and only occasionally in the Great Hall. He was pale and not eating much. He was also avoiding eye contact with the Potions Professor, who seemed to be spending more time watching him. Harry would glance up at the head table and immediately look away if he saw he was being observed.

Things came to a head during Advanced Potions class. Harry had found a charm that turned off his sense of smell and used it religiously during meal times in the Great Hall. He did not, however, think of using it during Potions class. It was halfway through the procedure that they added the armadillo bile to the brewing potion. He suddenly turned and dashed for the door, but it wasn't quick enough.

Severus reached Harry almost immediately. He kneeled down next to him as he retched, rubbing his back and talking softly to him. Behind him, Draco had turned off the flames under both Harry's and his cauldrons.

Harry leaned into his father as his stomach finally completely emptied itself. Severus used his wand to clean up the mess and to bring in a cloth to wipe down Harry's face. Harry sighed happily before fumbling for the flask at his waist.

"What is that, Harry?" Severus asked in concern.

"It's a tea Cattie gave me," Harry answered without thinking. "It usually works at settling my stomach."

Severus glared slightly, very unhappy with what he had just heard, but too worried to respond as he normally would. "Are you telling me that you've been sick for a while and haven't told me about it?" he purred.

Harry froze, his mind working furiously. However, although he might hide things from his father, he wasn't going to lie. "Yes, sir. I haven't felt well since Saturday morning," he admitted, ashamed.

Severus shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?" he murmured.

"I'm sorry," Harry muttered.

"I'm sure you are," Severus answered. "You were sorry last time too; it doesn't seem to have done any good. I'm obviously going to have to find something else that will work. For right now however, you are headed to the Infirmary. Mr. Malfoy, will you please escort your fellow student there? I will come up as soon as class is over."

"Yes, sir," Draco answered immediately. He helped Harry to his feet and led him out of the room.

They walked slowly down the corridor and started heading up the stairs.

"Are you okay?" Draco finally asked.

"I'm fine," Harry answered immediately.

That answer was no surprise to the blond boy. He would have been amazed if the other had answered any other way. "You are in so much trouble," Draco said, trying to draw him out.

"I know," Harry groaned. "I know better than to keep something like this from him. Really I do. I was stupid."

"You're telling me," Draco responded with a small laugh. "I would have thought your last punishment would have driven you not to do this again. Severus is really, really unhappy with you. Maybe you should start hoping you're really sick. After all, he can't punish you if it's something serious."

"If it's something serious it'll be even worse, and you know it," Harry answered back with a sigh.

Neither of them noticed the DADA professor who had heard their conversation and was looking after them worriedly.

Draco and Harry finally reached the Infirmary.

Madam Pomfrey looked at the two of them. It was immediately obvious which of them was in need of her attention. She sighed, and in a deeply put upon voice said, "And what have you done *now*, Mr. Potter?"

"Snape," both of the boys muttered in unison.

"He was sick all over the Potions classroom," Draco explained. "And he admitted he's been sick every day for almost a week."

"Anything else?" the mediwitch asked, bustling forward and leading Harry to a bed.

Harry shrugged. "Not really. I've been really tired lately, and haven't been able to eat much, but I figured that went along with the 'being sick' thing."

Madam Pomfrey started a diagnostic spell and checked the results. Then she did another one. And yet another.

"Is something wrong?" Draco asked, not liking how long this was taking.

"I'm sure it's nothing," the mediwitch muttered. "I'll just be a minute." She bustled off into another room.

Ten minutes later, she came back out. Her face was pale and her hands were shaking slightly as she handed Harry a goblet. She looked at the boy with pity as he drank it down. He didn't notice, but Draco did and slipped away to see if he could figure out what she had given him. His quick glance around showed walls full of bottles and a fireplace that was obviously there as a Floo connection. There was an open bottle on the table in the middle of the room and he picked it up to look at the label.

It slipped from his fingers as he loosened his grip in shock. "No," he whispered agonizingly. He didn't even notice the bottle breaking all over the floor as he ran back into the other room. "NO! Harry! Don't drink it!"

He rushed into the room in time to see Harry lower the empty goblet. "What's the matter, Draco?"

Draco had tears in eyes that were dark with rage as he stared at the mediwitch. "How could you?" he demanded. He rushed over to Harry, trying to remember a spell to make a person throw up, or maybe something Harry could smell that would make him retch. Anything to get that potion out of him.

"It's for the best," Madam Pomfrey tried to explain.

"Draco!" Harry yelled, worried now, grabbing him. "What was that potion?"

Draco looked at his best friend and the tears let loose, scaring Harry more than almost anything that had ever happened to him. Draco didn't cry. Especially not in front of anyone else. Had Madam Pomfrey poisoned him? Was he dying?

Draco's voice cracked as he answered. "It's a potion to cause an abortion."

Harry's mind tried to understand what his friend had just said. An abortion? Isn't that what women had when they were going to have a baby they didn't want? Did that mean he was pregnant? He was going to have a baby? His mind was taken with that thought for a long moment, before everything finally connected together. An abortion? Lose his baby?

"NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"


	4. Chapter 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14

So many reviews! I should do cliffhangers more often! :evil grin: But since I was so mean last time... and since the kids had a decent day... and since I had so many reviews... I'm giving you an extra long, four parter today. Enjoy!

Part 10/?

Severus moved as fast as he could while trying not to look as if he were rushing. It had taken far too long to get the rest of the class cleaned up and out of the room. He didn't dare leave them alone, or with only another student in charge, at this stage of the potion. Perhaps if Draco had still been in the room... then again, there was no way the blonde would have allowed himself to be left behind.

Running only steps behind him were Granger and Weasley. He thought about ordering them back to their class, but did not feel like fighting with them at the moment. Instead, he ignored them, focused on where he was going. They were a staircase away from the Infirmary when a despairing wail cut through the air.

Reputation be damned. Severus pulled his robes up around his knees and started running up as fast as he could. If he wasn't so worried, he would have found it amusing that the two much younger Gryffindors couldn't seem to keep up with him. As it was, all that mattered was the fact that he recognized his son's voice. And his son was crying as if his world had ended.

He slammed open the door to the Infirmary and stopped dead. Madam Pomfrey was magically spreadeagled against the wall, and looking very distressed. Harry was sobbing as if his heart was broken. Draco was showing more expression than he'd ever seen, frantic and sorrowful.

"What happened?" Severus barked out as he rushed forward. He paid no attention to the restrained mediwitch, heading straight for the two boys.

"Daddy!" Harry screamed. "She killed my baby!"

Severus wrapped his arms around the boy as he looked at his best friend's son. "What is he talking about?"

"What did you do to Madam Pomfrey?" Ron asked, glaring at Draco.

Hermione was obviously paying more attention. "Shut up, Ron!" she hissed.

Draco gulped and dashed tears off his cheeks. "She was looking weird when she gave Harry a potion, so I went and looked, and it was an abortifacient."

"What's that?" Ron whispered to Hermione, who had paled.

"It causes a miscarriage," Hermione told him absently. She was glaring at the mediwitch by that point.

Draco was still talking. "I tried to get him to throw it up, but I couldn't do it. Help him, please!"

Severus' first thought was that if Harry was pregnant, that explained so much. Then, the rest of the news penetrated. Severus' eyes were black with a rage none of them had ever seen before. He pressed Harry into Draco's arms and waited until he was surrounded by all of his friends before heading into the storeroom. His eyes caught the hints that Draco had missed, the fireplace with a bit of Floo powder on the hearth, the potions in a disarray, showing a nervousness and uncertainty not usually associated with the mediwitch. Finally, he looked down at the broken potion bottle on the floor. Reluctantly, he knelt down and checked the label. His eyes went wide and he quickly ran his finger through the residue still on the floor, checking its appearance and smell before putting a little of it on his tongue.

Kneeling there, alone, he let his mask fall. Relief was bright upon his face and only massive self-control kept tears out of his eyes. Only for a moment did he kneel there, fighting his emotions, before he was once more on his feet and striding out. He had to tell Harry immediately. He knew what something like this would do to his still insecure, and sometimes emotionally fragile child. He would not let his boy hurt for any longer than absolutely necessary.

He stopped and took one more look at the potions. There. He strode over and picked up one of the vials, double checking to be sure it was the one he wanted.

He walked back in and his heart clenched at the sound of Harry's broken sobbing. He warned the others away and pulled Harry into his arms. "Harry," he said softly. "Harry, listen to me, it's okay."

It was obvious Harry wasn't listening, although the other teenagers were looking at each other in surprise. How could it be okay?

Severus grabbed Harry's face between his hands, and stared into his eyes, as he barked, "Harry James Potter Snape! Listen to me!"

Harry hiccuped, startled, but his wet, green eyes met the dark, worried ones of his father.

Severus smiled reassuringly. "It's going to be okay," he said strongly, making sure he kept eye contact.

"But... my baby?" Harry's voice broke as he asked.

"Your baby will be fine, too," Severus said softly. "The potion she gave you only works on normal pregnancies, not magical ones."

"But what if it's not magical? You said that the spell on the bed wouldn't work on me." Harry asked desperately.

"You're male," Severus reminded him carefully. "It's not possible for it to be a normal pregnancy."

"But, what if..."

Severus covered his mouth. "That's enough. It's a magical pregnancy, and you both will be fine," Severus told him. "Drink this." He held the vial to Harry's lips and watched him gulp it down. Severus waited for several moments, just petting Harry's hair. "Are you calm, now?" he finally asked.

"Yes, sir," Harry answered softly.

"What did you give him?" Hermione asked, watching the almost unnatural calm on Harry's face.

"A calming potion," Severus explained. "It won't hurt the child or react badly with what he's already taken."

"So you were telling the truth about that aportivi-thing?" Ron asked.

"Abortifacient," Hermione corrected him absently.

"I wouldn't lie to him, especially not about something like that," Severus said reprovingly. He looked down at Harry, who had his hands wrapped around his stomach, but didn't seem to be taking in much that was going on around him. "I thought you were going to wait a couple of years before giving me a grandchild," he gently teased, trying to bring him back around. He wanted him calm, not completely out of it.

That did get a response, as Harry's green eyes slowly crept up to meet his. "How did this happen?" Harry asked quietly.

"I'm not entirely sure," Severus admitted. "More than likely, it has something to do with you being a mage."

Harry slowly smiled slightly. "Doesn't everything?"

"It sometimes seems that way," Severus agreed.

"What I want to know," Draco put in, "is, what are we going to do with *her*." There was a load of hate in that last word, and it didn't take his gesture to figure out who he was talking about.

Everyone looked up at her, but Madam Pomfrey only saw one of them. Never before had she seen such anger and disgust in the eyes of the sweet boy she'd been taking care of for years.

"Give her to my husband," Harry snarled.

"Good idea," Draco said evilly. The real surprise was that even Ron seemed to agree with that statement.

They all noticed the startled shock in the mediwitch's eyes, but only Hermione seemed to understand why.

"Why does it surprise you so much that he's married?" she asked.

Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth but there was no sound.

"Oops," Draco said insincerely. A wave of his hand and the silence spell was taken off.

Harry suddenly stood and stalked forward. Severus and Draco could feel the magic that had started to pour off of him. Hermione, Ron, and Madam Pomfrey did not have the ability to feel it as the mages did, but the pure intensity made their skin feel like it was crawling, and they could feel that something was gathering around them.

"This is *with* a calming potion?" Draco asked, shocked.

Severus just nodded, making sure to be within arms reach of Harry at all times, hoping he'd be able to control him if he lost it.

"Why," Harry growled. "Why did you try to kill my baby?" His voice went from anger to pain in the space of a single sentence.

"I thought it was the right thing to do," Madam Pomfrey said pleadingly.

"The right thing to do!" Hermione was the one that got that out first. "How could killing an innocent child possibly be considered the 'right thing to do'?"

"You didn't decide it yourself, did you?" Severus suggested.

"I don't understand," Madam Pomfrey, shaken, replied haltingly, "He said that the only way Harry could be pregnant, was if he was forced, or if it was Voldemort, reborn. Either way, you would never want the child, and an abortion without you ever knowing, would be the most humane thing. He didn't say anything about a husband!"

"He?" Ron asked, confused.

"Dumbledore!" the other males growled together.

Part 11/?

"What do you mean, Dumbledore?" Ron asked angrily. "Dumbledore wouldn't do something like this!"

"Don't you think you might be jumping to conclusions?" Hermione asked more calmly.

"I'll prove it," Harry growled. He closed his eyes and started to concentrate while muttering a spell under his breath.

His eyes flew open and his words faltered to a stop as a large hand closed hard around the back of his neck.

"Don't even *think* about it!" Severus said, shaking him slightly. "You will not transform in your condition. It would be too dangerous. There are other ways." He let go and strode back into the storeroom. It took him only seconds to find the hidden doorway to the back storeroom, the room with the most dangerous potions within it. It took bare seconds more to find the vial he was looking for. In less than a minute, he was back out and staring at the mediwitch.

"We *will* find out how this travesty came about. You can either take this willingly, or I can pour it down your throat, and I won't be gentle about it, or I can let Harry and his husband deal with you. If I were you, I would not take the third option. If there wasn't one particular question I want answered, I wouldn't even be giving you the first choice."

Recognizing that there really was no choice, Madam Pomfrey opened her mouth to take the truth potion. They waited until her eyes blanked, but before Severus could start the inquisition, Harry jumped in, "Why did you try to kill my baby?"

"I didn't," Madam Pomfrey said woodenly.

Harry growled, and the magic he was putting out in his rage increased.

Severus laid his hand on his shoulder. "That's the question I wanted answered," he said softly. "You knew that potion wouldn't work on a magical pregnancy, didn't you?"

"Yes," the mediwitch answered immediately.

"Then why did you give it to him?" Draco asked, confused. "Just to scare him?"

"No," Madam Pomfrey said. "He told me to."

"He told you to give Harry that particular potion?" Hermione asked.

"No," Madam Pomfrey admitted.

Normally Severus would have taken the others to task. Veritaserum interviews tended to go much better with only one person asking the questions. However, they weren't speaking at once, and the questions were following each other fairly well and being specific enough. He decided to let it go unless the students got out of hand.

"So why'd you use that one?" Ron asked.

"So the baby wouldn't die," Madam Pomfrey said.

"All right, I'm confused," Ron admitted.

"I think I understand," Hermione said thoughtfully. "You were ordered to do it, but you didn't want to, so you did it in such a way that it wouldn't do any harm, right?"

"Correct," Madam Pomfrey replied, as the others were trying to work that out.

"Well, why didn't you just tell him 'no'?" Ron wondered.

"I couldn't," was the mediwitch's monotone response.

"Is it Imperious?" Hermione asked thoughtfully.

"No," Madam Pomfrey replied.

"So why didn't you argue with him about it?" Ron asked, surprised.

"I couldn't," was all the mediwitch could answer once more.

Harry snorted, still beyond angry, though no longer at the one in front of him. She'd fought as hard as she could against the commands she'd been given, and done well at it. "How come you haven't asked the question we started this for?" he asked his friends. He turned to the older woman. "Who is *he*?"

"Albus Dumbledore," she said, in as blank a voice as before.

He could see the other Gryffindors were having a hard time believing it. Maybe keeping what his family thought of Dumbledore a secret hadn't been the best thing to do. He didn't care. All that mattered right now, was the revenge he was going to get for this threat. He had all the answers he needed. The only reason he was still standing here, and not already moving, was because the others weren't quite ready to move. They still had questions. He gathered his rage around him like an electric blanket. He would wait, but only for a few more moments. If they didn't have their answers by then, they'd have to get them off of Dumbledore's corpse!

"Why?" Ron asked in an almost desolate voice.

Harry could understand that. He'd once had that kind of faith in the old man. His had just been eroded long ago.

Madam Pomfrey couldn't answer; the question was too broad for the potion.

Harry had another question. "Have you ever done this before?" he asked in a dangerous voice.

Madam Pomfrey seemed to have trouble answering. He frowned, it wasn't that broad a question. He decided to refine it anyway. "Have you ever given an abortion potion before?"

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey answered at once.

Hermione was the one frowning now, also trying to figure out what the problem had been with the question before that. "Have you ever done it without telling the student what it was, or against their will?" she finally asked.

"No," the mediwitch replied.

"Did the parents know?" Draco asked.

"Yes," Madam Pomfrey answered.

Severus decided to ask a question he'd been wondering about. "How long has there been a contraceptive potion in the pumpkin juice?"

"One hundred seven years, two weeks," Madam Pomfrey replied immediately.

Everyone blinked. *That* was a surprise.

"Why didn't my father know about it?" Draco asked.

"The Board of Governors decided to do it to keep purebloods from breeding with 'inferior' classmates during their time at Hogwarts. The policy is only reviewed every thirty years," Madam Pomfrey explained.

This was all very interesting, but Harry was getting impatient. If they were going to be using their time doing this, there were more important questions to be asked. "What did Dumbledore say was the reason for trying to kill my baby?"

"He said that if the child wasn't Voldemort, or from him, it was more than likely Severus', and an abomination either way," Madam Pomfrey answered.

The resounding crash of breaking glass brought all eyes to the dark-haired boy, as every piece of glass in the room shattered at once. Severus found himself seriously impressed; most of the glass items had unbreakable charms on them, and even magic would have had a very hard time even cracking one thing, much less shattering everything to splinters.

Harry didn't leave much time for his father to notice that. He'd turned on his heel and was moving through the room. He wasn't running, but the others found they had to in order to keep up. The beds and furniture he passed were pushed away from him by nothing but the power of the magic wrapped around him. The door to the Infirmary blew off of its hinges while he was still ten feet away. The three realized it was lunchtime and so headed for the Great Hall.

Severus called Lucius as he ran, telling him to get to Hogwarts as soon as possible. Once that was done, he nodded to Draco. The two of them started trying to pull magic from Harry. They weren't worried about what he'd do to Dumbledore, but rather, for anyone else who might accidentally get in Harry's way. They did not want him to have the injury of another student on his conscience.

They should have thought it through better. Severus, especially, should have understood what was going to happen. The rage was too much a part of the magic Harry was putting out. It was aura magic, where the aura was rage. And in trying to calm him down, they were pulling that rage into themselves.

They were already beyond angry. They had simply been trained to think things through before reacting. That defense was stripped from them as the three mages' magic linked together.

Part 12/?

Conversation stilled as the doors of the Great Hall slammed open and against the stone walls. Everyone looked up, wondering and a trifle worried. Harry Potter... Snape strode through. A Harry Snape who was radiating so much pain and anger that even those who had not the slightest trace of empathy could feel it. By his side glided the two Slytherins. The Head of House looked absolutely lethal, while the Silver Prince looked glacially murderous.

All eyes were on them, almost missing the two Gryffindors running in behind them. The students and teachers all followed their eyes to the place where Dumbledore sat as a benign dictator over the Hall. The seat that was empty.

"Where is he?" Harry growled.

"Mr. P... Snape, is something the matter?" Professor McGonagall asked carefully.

"Where is Dumbledore?" he snarled.

"Headmaster Dumbledore," the Deputy Headmistress reproved, "was called out of Hogwarts on an emergency. Is there something I can help you with?"

Harry didn't seem to hear the last part. "Yeah, sure he was," he muttered.

Before anything more could be asked, a distraction came from behind. "'Arry!" Hagrid called as he walked into the room, carefully holding a pair of multi-colored snakes with pleated wings, only one of which was moving.

Harry felt some of his rage being pushed aside by concern. It didn't go away; no, it would take a very, very long time and probably a bit of violence before he'd be ready to give up this anger, but it could be pushed aside. Those watching breathed a sigh of relief as much of the tension dropped from the room.

"Hagrid," Harry acknowledged, walking toward him quickly. "What happened?" He reached out to pick up Flick, only to have Spitfire move in front of him threateningly.

"I 'as showin' 'em off to the class when this little one started hissin' and thrashin' about. The big one didna' seem too good, neither. I tried to 'elp 'er but nothin' worked."

Harry nodded absently, before turning to the one awake minidrag. /Spitfire, what's wrong? What happened to Flick? Why won't you let me pick her up?/

*/She became overloaded. You were feeling intense... anguish, fear, despair, followed by killing anger. It was too much for her. If you touched her right now, it would be even worse./*

"Well?" Hermione asked as the hissing stopped.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And again. He didn't want to give up his anger. The rage kept back the fear; it warmed him inside. But it was hurting one of his friends. And if the choice was between being angry and hurting Flick, or letting it go and getting her better, he didn't really have much of a choice.

Severus and Draco felt the rage fade from within them as Harry started to calm down. As they regained control of themselves, they glanced at each other before starting to chivy Harry and Hagrid out of the room. Severus tried to recall everything that had happened. It was immediately obvious that *this*, perhaps even more than the way Dumbledore used it, was the reason for those warnings about mages working together.

Draco kept his expression carefully blank as the group moved out the doors and out of view of the gossipmongers in the Great Hall. He was *not* happy. He did not like being controlled by anyone or anything. He didn't blame Harry for what had happened. He knew how much the thought of his new brother or sister being killed before it was even born upset *him*, and he realized how much more important the child was to Harry. That didn't mean he had to like what had happened. What if Dumbledore hadn't left? They would have killed him right there in front of everyone. Not even his father would have been able to keep them from Azkaban! Dumbledore did need to die, and as painfully as possible, but it needed to be done sneakily, or perhaps, legally. The only good thing about what had happened, was the fact that they hadn't announced *why* they wanted to see Dumbledore. If they'd gone in *announcing* they wanted the Headmaster dead, then they would be the first ones suspected when his corpse was found.

Harry was explaining that his emotions had overwhelmed his empathic bonded, even as far away as they were. He had to calm down or his very touch could hurt the minidrag. His friends tried to help calm him down as he worked to lock away his out of control emotions. It still took more than fifteen minutes before Spitfire moved away and allowed Harry to pick up his mate. Hagrid left soon after, glad the pretty snakes were going to be all right, and ready for lunch of his own.

"Now what?" Harry asked, gently petting the snake.

"Well, first," said Severus, who'd been thoughtful, prioritizing, "your husband is probably waiting very impatiently down in the Chamber, and you obviously need to talk to him. Next, we need to find you a mediwitch or wizard that we can trust, and then decide what we're going to do about your schooling. We also need to talk about what just happened between us, and what we're going to do about Dumbledore."

"He's too powerful to attack personally right now," Draco said. The other two nodded in agreement as they started down to the hidden Chamber.

Ron blinked. "Is it just me, or was that weird? Twenty minutes ago all they were thinking about was killing him, and now they're saying he's too powerful to fight."

Hermione nodded absently. "Very strange," she agreed, watching them walk away.

The two Gryffindors suddenly realized they were being left behind and ran after the other three.

The five reached the entrance to Salazar's private rooms and stopped in shock. That Blaise was waiting there was not really a surprise. He'd been there when they'd made a spectacle of themselves at lunch, and probably wished to find out what was going on. He also knew how to reach the opening even if he couldn't get inside by himself. The surprise was that he was not alone.

"You told them?" Ron asked in shock. He turned to the other two. "Not that we were really trying to exclude you, Nev, but he should have talked it over with us first."

Thyme shook her head with a smile. "Are you forgetting that I'm a Slytherin? And that, like most of us, I really don't like secrets being kept from me. It didn't take very long to figure out there was a secret room behind this wall, that you all knew about, although I've never been inside. When we saw Blaise starting to head down, we decided to join him."

Harry opened the secret passageway. He didn't care that Neville and Thyme knew this secret and were about to find out another. Right now, all he cared about was that his husband was only two doors away and he had something very important to tell him.

He wondered what Lucius would think of what he had to tell him. He knew they had talked of having children, but it was supposed to be *after* he had graduated and they had gotten married for real. If they were only promised in the eyes of the wizarding world, even if it was a minimum time marriage, did that mean the baby was a bastard? He didn't think of it that way, but would Lucius? He shook that thought away. Of course he wouldn't. Lucius wasn't like that. Right?

At that moment, as the newcomers were looking around in shock, the door to the inner rooms opened and the regal form of Lucius Malfoy strode through.

Harry took one look at his lover and lost it.

Faster than he should have been able to move, he was within Lucius' arms, sobbing out all the pain, anger and fear he'd kept bottled up to try and soothe Flick.

Neville and Thyme just stared wide-eyed in shock at the sight of their friend being held gently in the arms of the Minister of Magic, the Lord Malfoy.

"What's happened?" Lucius demanded, shifting his hold until he was completely supporting his young husband's weight.

"Why don't you take him into the other room," Draco suggested. "Harry's got something to tell you."

Part 13/?

Harry felt himself being lifted, and tightened his grip around his lover's neck. He didn't even consider letting go until they were within the apartment and he was seated in his husband's lap. Even then, he just squirmed around a little until he was comfortable, buried his head into Lucius' shoulder, and continued to sob.

Lucius looked worriedly down at the boy in his lap as he ran his hand through his hair. He'd been very concerned when Severus had called him and ordered him to come to the school, but had not been able to learn any details. The twenty-five minutes he'd spent waiting had been some of the longest in his life. The only thing that had kept him from leaving the rooms and finding his husband was the unchanging ring on his finger.

Harry's sobs finally ran down and after a moment of silence, Lucius turned his head so he could look him in the eyes.

"Are you ready to tell me what's wrong?" Lucius asked quietly.

Harry took a deep breath and just blurted it out. "I'm pregnant."

Lucius blinked as his mind tried to comprehend that. Pregnant? How? It shouldn't have been possible. He wanted time to get the idea through his head and consider every possibility. Looking down into the scared, wet eyes of his mate, he knew he didn't have that time. There really was no choice but to accept and move on.

"Why does that make you cry?" he asked softly. "I thought you wanted a child."

"I do!" Harry said vehemently. "I'd accepted that I wouldn't have a baby for a couple of years, but I didn't give up wanting it!"

"Then what caused this?" Lucius wiped the tear streaks off of Harry's cheek.

Harry's expression crumbled. "The baby almost died," he whispered hoarsely.

Lucius hissed in a breath as his mind ran through the possibilities. "What happened? Did you get dizzy and fall off your broom? A potion accident? What?"

Harry shook his head at each of those ideas. He took a deep breath and snuggled in harder, needing the support. "I was sick in Potions this morning, so Dad had Draco take me to the Infirmary."

"I thought you said it wasn't a potion accident," Lucius frowned.

Harry shivered. "It wasn't. I've been sick for a week. I've been able to keep it under control, but the smell of this potion was really bad."

Lucius wanted to say something about that, but had no doubt that Severus had already taken care of it or soon would. "So, what happened?"

"Madam Pomfrey gave me all these tests and then went into her storeroom. She was gone for almost forever, but finally came out and gave me a potion," Harry started breathing more quickly as he remembered. His voice began to raise, "I drank it. Why wouldn't I? I knew she was acting a little weird, but I was thinking I was really sick or something."

"What was it?" Lucius said calmly, seeing Harry start to become agitated once again, and rubbing Harry's back, trying to get him to calm down before he hyperventilated.

"I don't remember what Draco called it," Harry admitted, his eyes going a little glassy. "But it kills babies!"

He squeaked as he was suddenly being hugged with all Lucius' strength.

"But you're *fine*, right?" Lucius said almost desperately. "You and the baby both?" The baby wasn't real to him yet, but he thought of what such a loss could do to his young husband. That was what was scaring him at this point. He could feel as his fear began turning to cold anger. If the child had died before he even knew it existed, he would have been slightly sad, but mostly determined to get revenge. However, Harry would be utterly devastated.

Harry nodded. "Uh-huh," he muttered. "The potion doesn't work on magical pregnancies."

"Thank Merlin," Lucius murmured. He frowned. "Shouldn't Madam Pomfrey have known that?"

"Yeah, she did," Harry growled. "We gave her Veritaserum. Dumbledore used a compulsion on her, but since she didn't really want to kill the baby, she used that potion."

Lucius deliberately moved one hand off of Harry's back and placed it on the arm of the chair they were sitting in. "And where is Dumbledore now?" he purred, his hand squeezing the wooden chair arm until it creaked.

"He ran away like a coward," Harry said angrily. "And he's too damn powerful for us to fight."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Lucius answered darkly.

"He is, though," Harry was getting despondent.

Lucius disagreed, but decided to leave it for the moment. "So, a baby?" Lucius got enough control of himself to be sure he wouldn't hurt Harry and wrapped both arms back around him.

That did it. Harry's entire demeanor brightened. "A baby," he said almost worshipfully. "We're going to have a baby."

Meanwhile, in the outer room, the others found themselves having to explain things to a flabbergasted pair.

"Look," Neville finally said. "I can kind of understand that Mr. Malfoy isn't as bad as we all used to think. It's been kind of obvious this summer. What I have trouble with, is your dad letting Harry get close enough for them to be a couple."

The others were looking at Draco with interest. Honestly, they'd all kind of wondered that, and the fact that he didn't even know it was Harry made it even harder to believe.

"Because Harry was a *guest*," Draco told him patronizingly. "I didn't give him much choice about coming home with me either."

Eyes went wide all around. Hermione looked around, confused. It was obvious that what he had just said explained quite a bit for everyone else, but she didn't understand what the big deal was. She wasn't used to being the only one without information and she didn't care for that feeling at all.

"Would someone care to explain?" she asked, annoyed.

Ron looked at her in surprise. "You don't know about hospitality?"

"Of course not," Draco said condescendingly. "She's muggleborn, everyone knows muggles are uncivilized."

Hermione glared at him. "Of course I know what hospitality is, but it sounds as if you're talking about something more than what I learned about it." She turned to the one she thought might give her the answers she sought. "Professor?"

Severus deigned to explain. "The Code of Hospitality is very specific about the duties and responsibilities of a host to both guests and visitors. As well, of course, as the duties of said guests to their host. If Harry was brought to the Manor as a guest, Lucius was honor-bound to treat him like family, to make sure he was protected and had those things necessary for his well-being."

"But Mr. Malfoy wasn't the one to invite him," Hermione complained.

"What does that matter?" Blaise asked. "Draco's his heir and Harry was invited into his home. Who invited him doesn't matter at all."

Hermione looked around at the purebloods around her and saw they all understood. She obviously had to do some research on this. "So there's an actual written out code, and this is taken really seriously?"

Everyone nodded. "Even if You-Know-Who had still been alive and had ordered Mr. Malfoy to bring Harry to him, he wouldn't have done it. Not while Harry was a guest within his home." Thyme explained.

"There's something else I want to know," Hermione changed the subject. She would ask more about the code after she'd checked the books.

"Of course there is," Severus sighed.

She ignored that, and grabbing the Professor and Draco, pulled them off to a corner. Not everything had been explained to the other three yet. That was going to be up to Ron to deal with. She turned to the two mages. "Why don't you want to go after Dumbledore?" she asked.

"He's too powerful," they said in eerie unison.

"You didn't think he was too powerful half an hour ago," she reminded them.

They looked at each other, surprised. "She's right," Severus said thoughtfully. "Ask Draco again," he suggested, casting a silencing spell.

She did and he unblocked his hearing as Draco once more said the oldest mage was too powerful to fight.

Severus nodded his understanding. "I knew that newspaper geas couldn't be the only one. But it does not help. Even knowing that I have got a compulsion on me, saying, 'he's too powerful to fight', is not changing the fact that I *do* feel it. As long as I'm feeling like that, I will not be able to fight to the best of my ability. Not unless I'm enraged to the intensity I was earlier. And no one can fight to their best in that situation."

"Any idea how to break the compulsion?" a voice said from behind them. They turned to see Harry leaning into his husband's side, a beaming smile on his face, even considering what they were now talking about.

"Someone outside of us is needed. Someone we trust," Lucius remarked. "A mage is not necessary, but whoever it is must be able to use wandless magic."

Harry sighed. "I don't know anybody else who uses it," he said dejectedly, a little of the happiness fading.

"Will I do?" a voice asked, with a timidity in it that they hadn't heard for months. They looked up to see Neville standing there. He looked worried, but also very determined. He took a deep breath and stood up straighter. "I've been able to do wandless magic for the past six months or so. I want to help." He turned to Harry. "And, congratulations, Harry. I'm happy for you."

"Of course you can help, Neville," Harry stepped forward and enveloped his fellow Gryffindor in a hug. "And, thank you."

Part 14/?

Harry and Lucius had led the way back into the apartment, where they all gathered around in the sitting room.

"So, what do I need to do?" Neville asked courageously.

"For right now," Severus answered. "Nothing. I believe I know how to break the compulsion, but I would rather go over the books one more time. I'll inform you of your duties when I know for sure."

Neville agreed with a nod. He couldn't help being a little intimidated, being in the same room as both his still fearful Potions Professor and the Minister of Magic. However, that wouldn't stop him from doing whatever he could to help Harry.

"The first thing we need to do, is find Harry a doctor that we can trust," Lucius said thoughtfully.

Severus considered for a moment. "My choice would be Madam Faire. She has been specializing in pregnancies since before I was born, and is considered the foremost expert in male births. From what I understand, nothing is considered more important to her than her patient's well-being. Unfortunately, she retired last year, wishing to spend more time with her grandchildren."

"Perhaps I could... persuade her to come out of retirement for one special patient?" Lucius purred.

Harry glared at his lover. "I don't want you being mean to my doctor."

Thyme laughed. "Or I could ask for you. After all, she is my grandmother."

Everyone looked at her in shock. "You're grandmother's name is Faire?" Blaise tried to hide his chuckle.

Thyme Scarborough, sister of Parsley, Sage and Rosemary, rolled her eyes. "Yes, her name is Lillith Faire and yes, she's my mother's mother."

"Do you think she would help?" Harry got back to the important things.

She just nodded. "She didn't really want to retire, but there were 'irreconcilable differences' with the hospital. She was planning on starting a private practice in a couple of years."

"Are you sure she won't mind starting early?" Harry asked worriedly.

"I'm sure," Thyme answered. "Besides, it's not as if she'd be moving in or anything. Normally, you'd only see her every couple of weeks unless there's some reason for you to go more often."

"Will I like her?" Harry asked.

"You'll love her. Unless of course, you don't follow her directions. She can be a real martinet about what you should and shouldn't be doing. And if you're doing something that might hurt either yourself or your baby, she'll make sure you know it, and make sure you *never* consider doing it again." Thyme warned him.

"She sounds perfect," Draco laughed. "He needs someone to force him to follow rules now and then."

"I'll write to her tonight, but where are you going to meet?" Thyme asked.

"There's the next question," Severus reminded them. "Are you going to stay in school?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Ron asked, surprised.

"Some of the classes might be dangerous," Hermione reminded him.

"Not to mention, they probably want him as far away from Dumbledore as possible," Blaise added.

"Both of which are good points," Harry said. "But I can't just leave school. Not only would I miss my friends and father, but what would I do with myself all day? I'd go mad just sitting around the Manor by myself. Lucius has to work, even Jeri and the girls have their jobs. Besides, I can't help but feel that if I leave, he wins, and I don't want to see how that would get twisted around by him and the press. Also, wouldn't I have to take this year over again, and be put in Ginny's class?"

"As much as I would *hate* to lose our esteemed Potions Master," Ron started, causing everyone to laugh, "couldn't he go with you and tutor you, so you don't miss a year of school?"

Severus shook his head. "My contract is unbreakable, and runs through Harry's last year. I can't quit, take a leave of absence without being in St. Mungo's or dead, or even look for a new job, until it runs out."

"Look," Harry sighed. "Let's start with what I can not do."

"You can't play quidditch," Hermione said immediately.

"I will not even let you in the room while certain potions are brewing," Severus spoke up next. "However, there are only two of those for your year group. There are certain others that you would not be allowed to test, but could brew."

"No transformations," Lucius added. "That includes your Animagus form Nothing that will change your body, even if it's just an arm."

"That's not a problem," Hermione had her own input. "The syllabus said we're not going to work on human transformations until next year."

Neville thought for a moment. "Herbology should be safe. There aren't any really dangerous plants, you know, ones that spit out toxins or are poisonous, not this year anyway." He frowned for a moment. "Except leech root. You should really stay away from that one."

"We'd have to check on Charms," Blaise added his own counsel. "There might be a couple you shouldn't have done to you, but there shouldn't be that many. Professor Flitwick isn't real big on that sort."

"I don't expect there would be any problems with Ancient Runes or Magical Theory," Harry said. "Which leaves DADA." He sighed. "Why couldn't we have an incompetent teacher again this year? We're doing practicals, including dueling, once a week. There's no way I can do that, is there? The book work wouldn't be a problem, but the other is too dangerous."

Severus and Lucius were glad they didn't have to bring that up.

"Can't you talk to Professor O'Feahr about that?" Blaise asked. "Maybe he'll just grade you on the bookwork. After all, it's obvious you know quite a bit about the practical aspects."

"I can try," Harry agreed.

"Of course, you might not be able to complete the year," Thyme warned. "I know Grandmother has had to put almost a third of the male pregnancies she's dealt with on bed rest for the last three months or so. You wouldn't be able to go to class if that happened. And what are you going to do once the baby is born? Who's going to take care of it and you while you're recovering?"

"Cattie take care of Mistress Jade and Mistress Jade's baby!" a voice said vehemently from beside Lucius' chair. The little house elf glared around at the humans to make sure her point got across, before laying a small tray next to the arm of the chair and disappearing.

Draco blinked. "I thought Cattie was so shy she never spoke."

Harry laughed. "Obviously, she feels this is important enough to speak up. And you've got to admit, she's been doing a wonderful job." He eagerly reached for the tidbits on the tray. "She always knows just what I want," he said around his mouthful.

"Okay," Hermione said, trying to get things back on track. "You're going to be staying in school, at least as long as possible. The next question is, when do you want to tell everyone?"

Harry dropped the food he was eating and stared at his friend. Then he sighed and settled back. He looked up at the ceiling. "I don't know," he groaned. "Do I have to?"

Various versions of the answer 'yes' came from around the room.

He was silent for a long, long moment. "I'm not ready for that," he finally answered. "I just... I can't deal with being the center of attention again. I can't."

Lucius pulled up close and started rubbing Harry's back to calm him down once more. For the first time since they came down there, Flick moved off the table she'd been resting on and curled up around her human's neck and shoulders, adding her own version of calmness.

Harry turned to look up at his husband. "I don't want to deny my child or you, but I don't want to announce the pregnancy, either. Can't we just let it come out when it comes out?"

"That assumes Dumbledore or Poppy don't announce it first," Severus reminded him.

"If they do, then I'll deal," Harry sighed. "But I don't want to have to tell everybody, either."

"We can put it off for a little while," Severus agreed reluctantly. "though I don't think you should leave it too long."

Harry nodded his agreement. "I just don't want anything more to set me apart, you know?"

"We understand," Ron told him.

"We'll do it as you want, for now," Draco agreed for the others.


	5. Chapter 15, 16 and 17

I had meant to get this out before we left for turkey day, but I forgot. Oops ^_^. Oh well, it's still out on the right day. Luckily, every time I forget, there's always someone that's either commented on the fic or put it on their favorites that day, so as I'm going through the mail, I can suddenly go "oh yeah!"

Part 15/?

Harry glared at the world at breakfast the next morning.

"What's the matter?" Hermione hissed quietly. "Are you feeling all right?"

Ron looked up from his food. "Yeah, mate, you're not sick or anything, are you?"

"No," Harry answered back harshly. "I'm not sick or anything. Of course, my stupid, overprotective husband won't believe that."

"What was he doing?" Ron asked, clueless.

"Absolutely nothing!" Harry growled. "That's the whole problem!" He threw his half-eaten roll down onto the table and stomped out of the room, leaving his uncomprehending friends staring after him.

"He's acting like he needs to get laid," Seamus suggested. He hadn't been close enough to hear what they were talking about, but he could see how the green-eyed boy was acting.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Oh," she said, trying to hide her grin. That explained it.

Harry waited by the doors leading from the Great Hall to the dungeons. Several Slytherins looked surprised at seeing him there, but he ignored them manfully. There was only one he wanted to talk to. He went over and grabbed Thyme as she walked towards her dorm.

"What's the matter?" Thyme asked worriedly.

"Have you had time to talk to your grandmother yet?" Harry asked.

"I sent an owl last night," she told him. "But there's no telling when I'll get an answer."

"Damn," he muttered before stalking off.

"What's going on?" Draco asked, watching his friend move off. He grinned suddenly. "You know, for not being actually related, at times he can look a lot like his dad."

Thyme laughed. "That's true, he does have the moves down, doesn't he?"

"So what did he want?"

"He wanted to know if I've heard from my grandmother," she told him.

Draco frowned. "Do you think there's a reason he needed her now? Did he look okay? I noticed he left breakfast early and without eating much, but I figured he had forgotten his tea."

"I'm not sure. He looked kind of upset though."

Draco nodded his thanks and took off after his best friend. He needed to get to the bottom of this.

"Harry!" he called after him.

Harry stopped, but didn't turn around, instead waiting for the blonde to catch up with him, before continuing on his way.

"Are you okay? Is there a reason you need to talk to a mediwitch? Is there something wrong?"

"Yes, there's something wrong," Harry hissed, stopping suddenly and turning to stare at his son-in-law. "Your father is a pain in the arse! Well, actually, right now he isn't, and that's the whole problem!" He spun around and stalked off again, leaving Draco standing, looking after him, trying to understand.

Finally, it came to him and he started laughing. Frustration did not look good on his friend.

Thyme started trying to avoid her boyfriend's dorm mate after the third time he asked. She'd finally figured out what the problem was as well, and while she thought it was amusing, she was getting very tired of having to tell him she hadn't heard from her grandmother. Neville would have sympathized with her if he didn't have his own problems.

He and Professor Snape had had a truce going on for almost a year now. Neville wouldn't blow up any cauldrons, if Snape wouldn't hover over him or come up behind him unexpectedly. Moving back into a corner had helped that immeasurably, as did having Thyme as his permanent brewing partner. He'd even gotten competent enough to be accepted into Advanced Potions, something that he had to pass if he wished to apprentice as an Herbologist when he graduated.

However, being in the same room as the Potions Master, and actually working together with him, were two entirely different things. He could feel all of his old insecurities rushing back as he sat across the table from the dark-haired man. Neville was reading through a treatise on the way aura magic worked, written by a person that had never actually used it, but only thought they had seen it done and was theorizing how it had happened. In other words, it was worse than useless.

Still, Professor Snape must have had a reason to give him this to read. Right?

Finally, more than an hour after he started, Neville gave up. "Professor Snape, I'm sorry, but this doesn't tell me anything! This guy doesn't know what he's talking about!"

For the first time since he'd given him that book, Severus Snape looked at the young Gryffindor. Neville was shocked to see almost a hint of approval in the Potions Master's eyes. The rest of his face was still set in a scowl, but it simply wasn't as... scary as it usually was.

"Very good, Longbottom," Severus completely shocked the boy with those words. Never would he have *ever* thought to get a compliment from the man. "Aura magic, like all wandless magic, is based upon your *will*. You will never be able to break the compulsion upon one of us if you do not have the will to stand up for yourself." He handed over another book. "This one will, perhaps, explain a bit more."

They both got back to their research.

Thyme could feel eyes on her as mail call started the next morning. This time she had a letter and quickly read it. She looked up, caught the eyes that hadn't left her, and nodded slightly. She then flicked her eyes towards her Head of House and tilted her head ever so slightly towards the door. His nod was so slight it almost couldn't be seen, and no one who wasn't watching intently could tell he had moved.

Harry was the first to leave his table, but that wasn't a surprise; he hadn't stayed through all of breakfast for more than a week. Professor Snape was only moments behind. Thyme waited another minute or two, finishing up the small breakfast she was eating.

"Well?" Harry jumped on her as soon as she showed up.

"She said she'll meet with you and then decide. She doesn't know who you are, just that you're a male here at Hogwarts." Thyme told them. "She wants to meet at her house, since all of her things are there right now, although she says that if she does take you on, she has no problem setting up a room somewhere nearby, so you won't have to travel. The problem is that she has gossipy neighbors. If a boy shows up at her house, it's going to be all over the place in minutes."

"What if a girl shows up?" Harry asked thoughtfully.

"You can't transform, Polyjuice, whatever!" Thyme said indignantly. "You know that's too dangerous!"

"I wasn't talking about transforming," Harry laughed. "Can I go today or tomorrow?"

"Today, at two," Thyme agreed.

At five minutes to two, an older blonde man and a young black haired girl were in front of Madam Faire's house.

The door opened. Harry's first thought was that Thyme's description of a martinet was a good one. The woman standing there looked even stricter and more severe than Professor McGonagall at her worst. "Well?" she snapped.

"Thyme sent us," Harry answered, watching her carefully.

Her expression got even darker, but she stood aside and let them in. Once inside, she led the way to a comfortable parlor and sat down, waving them to nearby seats. "You may remove the glamours, if you please," she said frostily. She didn't seem at all surprised to see Lucius Malfoy's face emerge as the obscuring charm was dispelled. She turned to look at Harry. "I was under the impression Thyme's friend was a boy." She didn't give him time to answer, but ran a glance over his simple blue sundress and sandals. "Before you even ask, I will tell you right now that I do *not* do abortions. If that is all?"

The reaction she received was obviously not what she was expecting. Practically before she could blink, Lucius was standing in front of his mate with his wand out and pointing at her. "I would suggest *Madam* that you never do even consider that idea!" he scowled.

Madam Faire, who would willingly beard a hydra in its den for one of her patients, found herself just a trifle afraid of the powerful wizard in front of her. Not that she would show that. She'd been threatened by too many husbands who thought she should be doing more for their wives; too many women, or men, in the middle of labor, willing to take it out on *anyone* they thought had even the slightest part of their getting in that position in the first place.

"If that's not why you're here, then what do you want?" she asked, her voice not wavering.

Harry moved forward and placed his hand over Lucius' wand, forcing it down. "I'm here because I'm pregnant, and I need a doctor we can trust. One that's discreet and good at her job."

"Because you're the Minister of Magic's mistress?" she asked, her tone gentling ever so slightly.

"No, because *he* is the husband... of Harry Potter-Snape," Harry replied, raising his hand to rub the make-up off his distinctive scar.

Part 16/?

"Well now," the mediwitch blinked. That does put a different spin on things, doesn't it?"

The coldness had fled from her face and she suddenly looked like a consummate grandmother, friendly, happy and one who would always lend an ear or comforting bosom. "Sit down dears, and let's talk. And you young man, those had better not be real," she nodded towards Harry's breasts. "You are not to be doing any transforming in your state."

"I know," Harry groaned, sitting down and pulling his mate with him. "I've been told, numerous times, and no, I haven't and they aren't."

"I would hope that granddaughter of mine would be one of those warning you," Madam Faire said.

"Don't worry, she was," Harry smiled.

"I'm sorry about earlier, however I've had several people show up asking for that since I retired, and when a young girl showed up instead of the boy I was expecting, I jumped to conclusions. Especially considering who your husband is."

This time, she was speared by glares from both of the men seated on the couch. "Excuse me?" Harry growled.

"Perhaps that didn't come out as I wished," Madam Faire admitted.

"I would suggest you consider your words more carefully in the future," Lucius scowled.

"Alright," the mediwitch agreed, changing the subject. "Now, how far along are you?"

Harry tilted his head as he thought. "Probably about five weeks."

She frowned. "Probably? When did you have the spell done?"

"We didn't," Lucius answered. "We weren't planning on having children until after his graduation."

"I *think* I got pregnant the very first time, on the Honeymoon bed, but it's been checked. There were no spells on there that would make a male pregnant, just to make them more fertile." Harry explained.

"A spontaneous pregnancy," Madam Faire said thoughtfully. "That usually occurs only when there's a prophecy involved, or a mage."

Harry started to tense up, only to relax as she continued. A prophecy would be all he needed. "Two mages, actually."

Her eyes brightened. "That's actually a very good thing. I admit I haven't examined you yet, but I can see from here that you are smaller than you should be for your age. Your being a mage will take a great deal of the pressure off your body."

"How so?" Lucius asked.

"What most soon-to-be parents don't seem to understand is that a newly conceived wizard or witch needs magic to thrive, as much if not more than they need the nutrients from the carrier's body. When they are still in the fetal stage, that magic must come from the 'mother'. It's one reason many pregnant women and men have problems with their magic getting out of control. The child drains a parent's magic, though never truly more than the mother can bear. There have been studies that seem to show a child is more apt to become a squib if they do not get enough magic while still in the womb. For a male, it's even worse. Not only is magic needed for the child, it's also needed to sustain the changes to the man's body caused by his pregnancy. That's why so many males are put on strict bed rest as their pregnancy continues. They simply do not have the energy to sustain their wombs, feed their child, and live normal lives. However, as a mage, the one thing you will not have to worry about is running out of magic. It should help you to sustain your body without undue stress as well."

"How can you be sure?" Lucius asked.

"I'll know once I've examined him," she responded. "But for a quick check... Have you started with morning sickness yet?"

"About a week ago," Harry replied.

"And how bad is it?" she prodded.

He shrugged. "As long as I remember to take Cattie's tea, it's pretty much under control. I'm still sick every morning, but I can usually last through the rest of the day without any more problems."

"If you don't take the tea, how long does your nausea last?"

He thought for a moment. "Usually until a little after lunch."

"And, how tired are you?" she continued.

"Well, I need an afternoon nap, definitely. Morning naps are kind of good, too."

"But do you have any trouble getting up?"

He shook his head. "Not really, no."

"At this stage, a normal wizard's pregnancy will have him nauseated for the entire day as his body tries to adjust, and the early loss of magic will take his energy levels so far down he doesn't want to get out of bed at all."

He thought that over and nodded his understanding.

"I think it's time we checked you over," she finally said, standing up. "If you'll follow me?" She led the way into a guest bedroom that had been made over to look like a doctor's office. "How did you get here, anyway?" she asked.

"Portkey and muggle taxi," Lucius answered, carefully attending to everything she did.

"Good," she answered. "That's by far the best way to get around for now. I would not suggest Flooing, no matter how under control you think your nausea is, and Apparating is *completely* out of the question."

Harry shuddered at even the thought of Flooing, getting spun around through the network, flashing by the different sites. His face went a little green at just the thought and he grabbed his flask. Madam Faire waited until he had finished taking a drink before asking if she could see what it was. Her eyebrow rose as she tested it.

"Well, now, you really are very lucky. This tea is a house-elf secret. As far as I've been able to tell, no male knows how to make it, and the females will only give it to someone they really like. I've only run across a dozen or so that have had it. It is one of the best anti-nausea medicines out there and the only one with no known side effects. Don't let that father of yours know, though; it's a closely held secret, and if he tries to find out how it's made, your house-elf won't give you any more."

Harry nodded and took back the flask, holding it protectively. He knew how miserable he'd be without it, and had no intention of losing it like that.

She ran a quick diagnostic over the form on the bed, only to frown in confusion.

"What's the matter?" Lucius, who had persisted in watching her intently, asked.

"I'm picking up extra life signs from around his stomach, but they're not human..." she explained.

"Oops," Harry said lightly. /_Flick/_/ he hissed. /_You need to move, go sit with Lucius for a bit_./

Unwillingly, the multicolored belt around the young man's waist uncurled into a flying snake. She hovered in the air, glaring at the shocked mediwitch for a long, long moment before heading over to settle around Lucius' shoulders. She had not wanted to move. The last time she had allowed herself to be separated from her bonded, someone had hurt him! Not physically, perhaps, but that was only because the other older lady had fought the compulsion so well. Flick was convinced that if she had been there, Harry would never have put that potion to his lips. No one could say differently, so in Flick's mind, it was, after all, true. Since then, she had made sure to never be farther away then the length of the room, and not even that far if there was someone besides those her bond-mate trusted absolutely in the same room with them. She'd felt nothing worrisome from this old lady, one reason they hadn't left immediately upon meeting, but that didn't mean she was happy having the woman so close to her bonded without her right there with them.

Madam Faire kept one eye on the minidrag as she went back to work. This time her diagnostic went much better. She started dictating measurements and observations to a Dicta-quill as she worked. The rest of the visit went as would be normal for a doctor's visit. Harry was given a list of vitamins and minerals he needed to boost and was told to have his father make him a potion for it. He was also ordered to eat more, whether he felt like it or not.

Finally it was decided that future visits would be held in the secret Chamber underneath Hogwarts school. Madam Faire was given a portkey that would allow her into the rooms, but now no one could get out of the Chamber and into the school without a snake or knowing Parseltongue, so she wouldn't be able to wander around the school. They decided it would be easier if she could come to him instead of him having to leave the safety of Hogwarts every two weeks.

As they were leaving, Harry asked the most important question of the day. "Can we still have sex?" Some of his frustration must have shown because the mediwitch laughed.

"Of course you can," she agreed immediately. "As long as you feel like it, it will be fine. Trust me, your body will let you know when it doesn't want to. Until then, enjoy yourself."

Harry grinned back at her and grabbed his husband's hand as he set off the portkey that would take them back to the Chamber.

Part 17/?

Harry was completely ready to drag his recently recalcitrant husband into the bedroom upon their return to the school. However, irritatingly, he found himself surrounded by his friends and family the moment they arrived. He glared around indiscriminately, but without real heat. He might be annoyed at their timing, but they did it because they cared. How could he be unhappy with them for that?

"Harry?" Neville's voice showed the shock that was obvious on his face.

Harry wondered what that was about. Hermione cleared it up for him.

"That's right, you and Thyme never saw him as Jade, did you?" she said gently.

"Jade?" Neville squeaked.

"That's what I call myself when I'm out as a girl," Harry explained, without explaining anything at all.

"You're the one that was seen with Minister Malfoy!" Thyme realized.

"I'd better have been," Harry answered with a hint of a grin.

"Look, you can talk about Jade later," Draco broke in. "Right now, there are more important things. How did it go?"

"Pretty good," Harry admitted. "I am a little small, but it should be okay. I need some more vitamins and such, and she wants me to eat more. It seems the fact that I'm a mage will make it much easier on my body than it normally would be. We're going to set up one of the workrooms in the Chamber for her to use as an office, and she'll come every two weeks or so for a check-up."

Lucius sat with his arm around Harry and watched as his friends asked questions. One thing he noticed was that Harry kept trying to end the conversation, and yet every time he did, one of the others would ask a question. He also noticed the barely hidden glee on several faces, including his son's, as the conversation dragged on.

"Don't you all have things you should be doing?" he finally asked. Regardless of the fact that they were Harry's friends, not one of them would willingly go against him. He showed them the way out, holding Draco back. Harry had already headed toward the bedroom, so he had no problem asking. "Would you care to explain to me what that was all about?"

"All what?" Draco's look was pure innocence, but his father knew him too well.

One intense glare from his father's silver-blue eyes was all that was necessary to get him to spill his guts. "Well, you couldn't expect us not to play with Harry, could you? It's been kind of obvious for the past couple of days that you've been holding out on him. He's fun when he's frustrated." He laughed as he eeled out from under his father's hand and darted out the door.

Lucius looked after him with a calculating glint in his eye. So, their love life was the stuff of rumor was it? And Harry was fun when he was frustrated? Perhaps he ought to try and prove that theory.

Lucius walked into the bedroom and had to hold back a chuckle. Obviously, Harry was tired of the waiting. His young husband was naked and spread out over the sheets like an offering, one Lucius had every intention of accepting. Eventually.

Harry looked up with an inviting smile and Lucius smiled back. "Draco told me some interesting things," he purred as he stalked closer to the bed. "According to him, there are *rumors* going on about our sex life. I believe you were complaining about it?"

Harry's eyes had taken on a slightly dazed expression as that voice rolled over him, mesmerizing him in concert with his husband's gliding movements. He barely acknowledged Lucius' words. "Uh-huh," he muttered, uncomprehendingly.

Lucius decided to try something he'd wanted to do for weeks. The state of mind Harry was in, he might not even notice it happening. A whispered spell caused silken strips to wrap around the bedposts, then snare the nearest appendage. He watched carefully, ready to dematerialize them immediately at the slightest hint of fear.

There wasn't any. Harry looked at first surprised, and then a trifle interested. He tugged gently on the straps, testing them, then turned back to look at his husband. Another whispered command pulled the strips enough to spread him out on a bed suddenly stripped of all but the bottom sheet.

Lucius moved closer, allowing one hand to rest on a bound foot just below the strap. "My son also told me, that a frustrated Harry, is a fun Harry."

Harry's eyes flew wide. *That* he comprehended. "What do you mean?"

Lucius walked forward, ghosting his fingertips over the nearest leg. "You'll find out. Right now though, I need to check and make sure the bonds are holding you correctly."

Harry watched, starting to get worried. He expected Lucius to go up to check his wrist, or down to check his ankle. Instead, the older man headed towards his middle. To be more exact, his sides, the most ticklish part of his sides.

Lucius watched in amusement as Harry twisted and turned underneath his moving fingers. The amusement faded into lust as he watched his husband's body move uncontrollably, held onto the bed only by the silk.

He finally backed away when Harry started having trouble catching his breath from laughing so hard. He stood within sight of his husband and started to undress. He loved the hunger obvious in his mate from the first glimpse of his pale skin.

"I think those hold you quite well, don't you?" he purred. "They'll hold you so that I can decide where to touch you, when to touch you, *if* I touch you. I could decide against it, after all." He was down to just his pants as he prowled around the bed.

"You wouldn't!" Harry complained.

"Probably true," Lucius agreed. "I do enjoy touching you, after all." He ran his hands over the skin nearest to him, making sure to keep away from the ticklish spots.

He slipped out of his pants and settled onto the bed. With determined care, he started investigating all the tempting skin spread out before him. He spent long, long minutes exploring every inch of Harry's stomach, seemingly determined to note any changes in the well-loved body. Harry groaned and moaned throughout. After a couple of minutes he was begging.

"Please, Lucius! Please, touch me!"

"I am touching you," Lucius growled, pressing his tongue into Harry's bellybutton and then sucking the skin around it. He finally had enough of that and moved upwards. "Are these still too tender to touch?" he asked, carefully looking over Harry's nipples. They did seem a little darker, and maybe the slightest bit puffy.

Harry stuttered out a 'yes'. At that answer, Lucius carefully licked around them and blew over them without ever touching them with anything harder than his breath. He made sure he was laying over Harry just close enough that the boy could feel the warmth from his body, almost touching, until Harry was *sure* that if he could just arch a little bit higher he could feel pressure where he most needed it. However, he was just far enough away that it could never happen. Draco was right; a frustrated Harry was a fun Harry, but he was sure he could make his young husband *much* more frustrated than this.

Much later, after proving to both of them that he could, indeed, make Harry more frustrated, the older mage only had enough energy to free Harry from his bonds, magically clean them and pull a sheet over them both, before he collapsed, an arm and leg wrapped possessively around his mate. 'Mine'.


	6. Chapter 18, 19 and 20

You guys are lucky I realized I'd forgotten to write anything up here. I opened it up to put it in and realized almost all of part 18 was missing. I knew the whole thing seemed a bit short, but didn't think anything of it.

Part 18/?

Connor watched Harry pick at his lunch. Things had gotten worrisome in the past week. Something had caused the boy to come striding into the Great Hall as if he expected Voldemort to be there. He had even looked more dangerous than the two Slytherins flanking him. Since then, the black-haired boy seemed to be avoiding people. He'd been snappish for several days, but that had ended quickly. As far as Connor had been able to tell, he had stopped going back to his dorm after classes were over, and wasn't sleeping there anymore. He had also spoken to him, in his role as DADA Professor, about dropping the practicals and dueling. He had said he would need to either simply be graded on the bookwork, maybe with some extra credit work, or he would have to drop the class altogether. He did not want Harry to do that, since he would lose the little time he could study him without anyone being the wiser, so Connor had effectively been forced to agree. The fact that Harry would not explain *why* he had to stop dueling was simply another problem.

Then, of course, there was the fact that Harry had quit quidditch. From all reports, the boy absolutely loved the sport. For him to suddenly stop playing, with again, no reason given, was yet another indication that something was wrong.

Connor worked harder at trying to get the young Gryffindor alone for a talk, but it was proving completely impossible. He had also noticed Dumbledore trying to speak to the boy, only to have Professor Snape maneuvering them so that it never happened.

The next day added the crowning moment to his unease. Harry walked into the DADA room with a bruise forming on his cheekbone and blackening his eye.

"What happened?" Connor asked worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Harry said ruefully. "I ran into a door."

The Defense professor glared at him.

"What?" Harry asked. "I did!"

"Maybe you should go to Madam Pomfrey, just in case," Connor suggested.

He was surprised and very unhappy to see a flash of fear crossing Harry's face at that suggestion. Why would the young man be scared of going to the mediwitch? Unless that bruise was not the only one, and he was afraid that she would find the others. *Really*, a door? Was there a more cliched excuse?

"Don't worry about it. I'm fine," Harry told him. His eyes were suddenly dark, and held a warning the half-Sidhe found himself heeding.

The auburn-haired professor backed off, but made sure he was listening as Harry's friends walked in and saw him.

"Harry!" Ron hissed. "What happened?"

"I ran into a door," Harry told them, the same as he'd spoken before.

"Let me guess, the door's name was Goyle?" Neville said as he settled behind his friend.

"No," Harry groaned. "The door's name was just 'door'. I was half asleep and really had to go to the bathroom. The good news is, the door kept me from hitting the floor, the bad news is, the doorknob wasn't watching where I was going."

"Are you going to see the mediwitch?" Hermione asked.

"There's no need. I'll just get a bruise balm from Dad," he hissed back.

"If you're sure," she frowned.

"Yes, I'm sure," he answered, turning back to the front of the class.

Connor sighed, now the boy was lying to his friends as well.

Still, perhaps all these things together would not have been enough for him to act. There was still no actual proof. Then, the newspaper came. The teachers always received their copies before the students, so they would be the first ones to read the headlines.

'BOY-WHO-LIVES HAVING CHILD!'

'Inside sources at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry have confirmed that Harry Potter, currently Harry Snape, is pregnant. The identity of the other father is unknown at this time. There are fears that this unexpected child might herald the return of the Dark Lord. It has been nine months since the Dark Lord's demise and the possibility is there that one of his followers forced this upon our savior. According to our research, there is a potion that could do that, although it would have to be created by a Potions Master. This brings into question why, exactly, the Hogwarts Professor adopted the young boy. The good news is that if this method was used, there is a chance that our young savior was not violated, something we all hope and pray is true.'

Connor's eyes were wide and anguished as he read the article. No! He was supposed to protect Harry! He moved as quickly as he could without bringing undue attention to himself, heading upward to the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore was waiting for him.

"Does this be true?" Connor asked, throwing the paper down on the desk in front of him.

"Harry is pregnant; that's true," Dumbledore answered after perusing the article. "He's refused to say who the father is, but it is not possible for it to be a student from this school. Nor is it possible for him to have gotten pregnant without help."

Connor O'Feahr considered all he had been told and nodded once. There was one spell that could tell him everything he needed to know, and he was going to use it, no matter what. With determination in every stride, he headed down and waited in the corridor outside the Great Hall. It was almost ten minutes before Harry was seen, his Slytherin friends heading towards him.

"Mr. Snape, I would be talkin' to ye. The rest of ye, get on to breakfast." he ordered.

"Professor," Draco stepped forward.

"I do not wish to be discussin' this with ye," Connor didn't even look at him. "Get into the Hall before I be takin' House points."

"Go on," Harry told them. "I'll be fine." His hand reached up and touched a small lump around his shoulder, reminding them of the defender he carried with him.

Reluctantly, they left him there, heading into the Hall with many backward looks. Draco immediately strode towards his Head of House, determined to tell him what had happened.

Connor quickly placed his hand on the top of Harry's head and whispered a spell. Harry glared at him, then looked down as he felt himself begin to glow. His eyes got wide.

The Tuatha de Danaan looked at the one he was touching and felt himself go pale. The spell showed any injuries the body had ever borne. The boy's body was completely covered with the shadows of injuries gone before. Welts and bruises and broken bones, a mute testimony to years of abuse.

That was it, the final proof necessary.

Before Harry could do more than comprehend what had happened, Connor had whispered a spell and Harry felt himself becoming unconscious.

When Severus ran out into the corridor mere moments later, all he found was a sleeping Alaspinian minidrag curled upon the stone. Of Harry and the Professor, there was no sign.

Part 19/?

Harry awoke slowly. He stretched across the coolness of the silk sheets under him. Suddenly, his mind caught up with his body and his eyes flashed open. He looked around as well as he could without his glasses. Nothing he saw looked at all familiar. The room he was in was round, but too small to be a tower room. It was also extravagant far beyond even Salazar's rooms or the most ostentatious of those at his husband's Manor.

Harry concentrated and called his glasses. They landed on his hand as expected, but something felt very wrong. He placed his glasses on his face absently. His mind was almost entirely taken with trying to figure out what felt wrong in what he had just done. A small part of him, however, was in 'enemy territory' mode, keeping watch on the room around him.

Finally he realized what it was. The magic felt different here. He tried to draw it within him, but was unable to. It wasn't that something was blocking him, but that the magic just wasn't compatible with him. Where was he? There should have been nowhere on Earth that the magic was this different from what he'd lived with all his life.

Not being able to draw magic? Why was this important? He tried to think about it as he explored the room in which he'd found himself. His first thought, that of extreme wealth, was borne out now that he could see. It seemed as if every piece of wood was heavily carved, while all metal was gilded and bejewelled. The floor was covered with luxurious furs, while the bedclothes were the richest of silks and satins.

He found his robe, laid carefully across one of the chairs. He first pulled out his flask, happy to find it was still almost completely full. His flask! The baby! Didn't Madam Faire say that both the baby and his body *needed* magic. What if he couldn't pull it in? Would that be dangerous to either of them? With that thought, he searched through his robe again, worried now. With a sound that was almost a sob, he found the two emblem portkeys he carried with him everywhere. He brought the one to the Manor up to his chest and activated it.

Nothing happened.

He tried again. Still nothing.

He grabbed the other one, the one that would lead to Salazar Slytherin's sitting room and activated it. Or tried to. Nothing. No sensation of a hook grabbing onto his stomach and pulling him away from wherever he was. No feel of magic was coming from them at all.

He looked down at his ring and realized there was no feeling of magic coming from it either. He found himself praying that it was just the different magic that was making them not work, and that these precious things had not been drained of all of their magic.

He picked up his flask and took a drink, before pulling back and looking at it in shock. It was still warm. A quick check showed the warming charm on it was still working. But why would it work and not the portkeys? He picked up one of the sigils and tried again, concentrating fiercely. Finally he put it down. He understood now.

The magic of the items were fine. However, all three of them worked through their connections. The emblem portkeys needed their connection to the places they would take you. The ring needed a connection to his husband's ring. Those connections had been severed or perhaps were simply not possible at this moment. If he could get out of wherever he was, away from whatever made the magic different, they would probably begin to work once more. He could hope anyway.

So, if he couldn't leave this place the easy way, he'd have to do it the more difficult way. And that required first getting out of this room. There were several places where curtains and tapestries covered the walls. He hadn't taken the time to investigate them yet; his robe and what was in it being much more interesting at the time.

The tapestries turned out to be obvious once you knew what was behind them. The only one with people, beautiful forms dressed in beautiful clothes, led to a combination closet and dressing room. The one with the dazzling waterfall cascading endlessly into a clear blue lake led to a richly appointed bathroom. The one with a path meandering through fairy-tale like woods led to a locked door. Harry was sure the way out was through that door, but an 'alohamora', even with his wand, didn't work. Again, whether it was the difference in the magic, or the door had been charmed against it, he didn't know.

The curtains over the windows could be easily pulled back, to show a landscape every bit as unbelievable and mythically beautiful as that of the tapestries. Trees with silver trunks and leaves of emerald glistened in the sun. The grass was a brilliant green such as he'd never truly seen in nature. Animals, familiar, yet infinitely more graceful, flitted through the trees and grass.

And headed towards him was a small figure.

As the figure came closer, he could see more details. It was a girl about his own age. She had long, luxurious golden blond hair cascading down her back. She was wearing a dress that from this distance seemed like the dresses you saw fairy princesses wearing, in those fairy tale books he only occasionally saw. He spared a thought towards where he could get a dress like that. He knew immediately when she noticed him watching. She beamed a welcoming smile at him as she waved, not seeming to care that she received nothing but a glare in return.

Moments later, the door opened and she walked in. She completely ignored the wand pointing at her face.

"Where am I?" Harry snarled. "And how do I get out of here?"

"Why would you wish to leave?" she asked sweetly, tilting her head. "I am Ehlana, foster daughter of Aine. Welcome to Underhill."

"The home of the Tuatha de Danaan," Harry answered, trying to prove he knew at least part of what she was speaking of. "Look, Lana, or whatever your name is, all I want to know is how to get out of here. And if you'd care to tell me where Professor O'Feahr is, I'd appreciate it. I have something I need to *talk* to him about." His tone made it abundantly clear that he would enjoy that talk, though the teacher probably wouldn't.

"Why would you wish to go back?" Ehlana asked in confusion. "Underhill is the most beautiful place in any world. And you're safe here. As for Connor, he has gone to get my mother, who's a... doctor, to look at you."

"Safe?" Harry barely kept himself from screaming. "I was kidnapped!"

"Harry," she said softly. "We know."

"Know what?" Harry snarled.

"If you know anything about the Tuatha de Danaan, surely you've heard of their affinity with abused children. I, myself, was one of the rescued ones. Connor couldn't leave a child behind to be harmed any longer."

"That'd be all well and good five or even ten years ago," Harry growled, getting an inkling of what was going on. "However, currently I'm neither abused, nor a child. So why am I here?"

"I understand," she said compassionately. "Many people don't really realize how bad it is. They feel they deserve what has happened, that they were bad. That's not true." She moved toward him. "Give us some time, you'll understand, I promise."

Harry glared, then turned and sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled up his leg and took off his shoe and sock. He turned his foot so the girl could see the scar that tore through the ball of his foot for almost two inches. "My cousin threw a glass at me and then said I had dropped it. I was made to clean it up, and had to walk through the glass to do so. I not only got punished for breaking the glass, but for getting blood on the kitchen floor. This got infected and I couldn't walk on it for a couple weeks. I was beaten for not being able to do my chores and didn't get to eat for almost that whole time. I was six. I know what it means to be abused, trust me, I do. I also know I'm away from them and will never be going back. So explain to me why, after being abused from the time I was fifteen months old, I've been kidnapped away to *here* now that I'm free."

Ehlana looked compassionate. "I'm so sorry we didn't get you away from those people earlier," she murmured. "But what your new father did was just as bad, if not even worse!"

"What are you talking about?" Harry glared at that insult to Severus. "He's never laid a hand on me!"

"We know," she said softly.

"Know what?" he growled.

"About your child. He had no right to force you to bear..." she was interrupted.

"What?" Harry screeched. "You think Severus... Eeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwww! That's my *father*!"

Ehlana blinked. "You mean... he's not?"

"Not even!" Harry shuddered. "How could you think..." he shook his head.

"But then... who?"

"I don't see that it's any of your business," Harry said haughtily. "But it's my husband," he held up his hand to show off the ring that was suddenly obvious on his hand.

Ehlana looked a little pale, and almost collapsed into a nearby chair. "But... I don't understand. Connor said... he was so sure... Dumbledore said..." she babbled.

"Well, there's your answer right there," Harry said angrily. "Dumbledore."

"I thought... isn't Dumbledore a great hero of your world?"

"So he makes everyone think. He's a manipulative, scheming old bastard who will do anything to make sure no one is more powerful or better thought of than him." Harry snarled. "And he will be going down, soon."

"What did he do?"

"He tried to kill my baby," Harry's eyes burned at the remembrance. The past week had not lowered his rage at all.

"He did what?" At that moment, Ehlana looked every bit as angry as Harry himself did. She wondered what would happen when the true Sidhe found out about this. If he was telling the truth, not only had Dumbledore used the Tuatha de Danaan against a child, but had tried to kill that child's child. Regardless of what Harry thought about how adult he was, she knew they would still consider him a child. After all, they still considered her one.

No, they would definitely not be pleased.

Part 20/?

Meanwhile, back at Hogwarts.

The way Severus and Draco strode into the Great Hall reminded the students of what had happened a week ago. They had the exact same expressions on their face, and the same determination in their body language.

"Where is he?" Severus growled. Deja vu, except this time he was speaking *to* Dumbledore, not of him.

"Where is who?" Dumbledore asked composedly.

Severus' snarl would have not sounded out of place coming from a giant jungle cat, and people were drawing back from him in fear. "Where... Is... My... Son? O'Feahr stopped him in the hall to talk, and now both of them are missing. And *don't* try to tell me they went off for a private conversation." He held up the still unconscious Flick. "Harry would never have left her behind."

"If you're so sure something has happened," Dumbledore said compassionately, "we'll organize a search."

Severus just stared at him. "I'll do it myself," he said in a low growl.

"Perhaps it is better this way," McGonagall spoke up.

"What are you talking about?" Severus hissed.

She handed him the paper with a stern and disapproving look upon her face. He read it over quickly, and scowled terribly. "And you *believe* this trash?" he snapped. "I would never touch my son. Nor have I anything to do with his pregnancy."

"So he is pregnant?" she asked, still disapproving, though it wasn't as much towards him as it had been.

"He's also married," Snape admitted. "Although, thanks to the rules of this school, it was only a Promise Ceremony."

"It was a beautiful ceremony, though," Hermione said, happily smiling at the memory.

"That has nothing to do with Harry being missing," Severus sternly reminded them. Leaving flabbergasted teachers behind him, he spun to face the assembled students.

"Weasley, check the map." Ron nodded and quickly ran out of the room towards Gryffindor tower, where the Marauder's Map still resided within Harry's trunk.

"Granger, you've been studying the Tuatha de Danaan; find me the nearest place he might have been taken."

Hermione nodded her understanding, but had a problem. "Sir, I'll need to get to the books in the room."

That didn't mean anything to almost anyone else in the Hall, but it did to the Potions Professor. "Spitfire," he ordered. The Alaspinian minidrag stuck his head out from Severus' sleeve, where he'd moved to be closer to his mate; Flick was still resting in the Potion Master's arms. "Go open the room for her." Severus commanded. Spitfire would have liked to argue, but he understood enough of what was going on to know they were trying to find his mate's bonded. He flew over to Hermione and landed on her shoulder. She immediately started running to the dungeons.

"Malfoy," Severus looked at the boy next to him, and Draco knew what he was to do. He followed after Hermione. "And tell him to bring Salazar! We need to talk to the minidrags." Severus called after him.

"Yes, sir!" Draco called back over his shoulder.

"Scarborough, I want your grandmother here just in case. If she gets here in the next ten minutes, Granger can bring her up." Thyme was the next one racing out the door, headed up towards the owlry.

"Zabini," he turned to look at the exotic looking Slytherin.

Like Draco before him, Blaise didn't need orders. A quick gesture from him brought three other people to their feet, one from each House; together they started to organize their Houses, something they had trained for in case Voldemort attacked. Most of the teachers had no idea just how well prepared they were. They were learning now.

"Longbottom, you're with me."

Neville's face showed trepidation for only a moment, before it firmed up with utter determination. Somehow Severus knew that there would be no more hesitation or worry. The Gryffindor would do what had to be done.

More than anything else that had happened that day, perhaps even all that year, the most confusing, confounding and 'Oh, my God, the World is Going to End!' thing the students had ever seen, was Snape and Longbottom striding out the door, side by side.

Of course, that's because they didn't see what happened next in a deserted classroom nearby. Severus dropped to his knees in front of his most bumbling student. If they'd had more time, if the circumstances hadn't been so dire, it never would have happened that way. Another way would have been found. However, there needed to be no extraneous items around, especially anything that might have held other magic. The clothes they were wearing was one thing, they *belonged* and wouldn't interfere. Other things could have obstructed his efforts, and Longbottom would need all of his magic, and only *his* magic, for this to possibly work.

He took a deep breath and bent forward until his forehead was pressed against his professor's. His hands reached up, pressing into the greasy hair, holding the scalp still. Technically, aura magic didn't need words, but they could help to focus concentration, and Neville needed all the help he could get. Neville began to whisper. "Dumbledore is not too powerful to fight, you can break his compulsion. Dumbledore is not too powerful to fight, you can break his compulsion." Over and over he whispered it, pouring all of his magic, all of his will towards that one thought. Dumbledore was not too powerful to fight, Professor Snape could break the compulsion. That was the only thought in his mind, the only wish in his heart.

Severus could feel the magic swirling around him and welcomed it into him. More and more he pulled, pushing it towards the compulsion he could *almost* feel.

Neville was swaying. He was coming to the end of his reserves, but refused to give up.

Suddenly Severus felt it. It felt as though a rubber band had snapped within his mind. Immediately, he broke away from Neville's magic, reaching up to shake him out of his zone. He could feel how low the Gryffindor's magic had gotten, and shook his head in disbelief. That he would go that far for a professor he didn't even like...

Neville looked into the black-haired man's eyes and smiled tiredly as he came out of his trance. He slowly collapsed into the man's arms, unable to hold himself up any longer. "Did it work?" he murmured.

"Yes, Neville, it worked," Severus said, for once using the young man's first name. Neville gave a sweet smile and then his eyes dropped closed.

Severus checked him over quickly, finding that he was just asleep. Severus pulled his wand out and enervated him. He would have liked to have let him sleep, but there simply wasn't the time, and an unused classroom was not the best place to nap.

Neville woke up and blanched. He was laying in Snape's arms! He quickly jumped up, babbling apologies. Severus just sighed and shook his head. "Thank you, Longbottom," he said, cutting through Neville's uncomprehensible prattle.

Neville calmed down, remembering what had happened. "You're welcome," he spoke quietly, yet with dawning pride. He knew he had succeeded. .

The Slytherin and Gryffindor headed back to the Great Hall. They reached it just in time to see the doors blow open. The Minister of Magic, Lucius Malfoy, entered the room, surrounded and followed by over a dozen aurors and several reporters.

"Dumbledore!" He roared.

"Minister," Dumbledore had risen to his feet. "I don't believe this concerns you."

"Harry Snape is missing from this school, kidnapped by one of your teachers, and you say it isn't my business?" Lucius' voice was dangerously soft, but easily heard thanks to the deathly hush surrounding them.

"He will be found," Dumbledore promised. "I'm sure he's fine."

"Yes, he will be," Lucius snarled. "Because you will tell me where he's been taken, so we can go and get him."

"Minister," Dumbledore began.

"I'll ask you only one time," Lucius purred. "Where... Is... My... Husband?"

The silence was total.


	7. Chapter 21, 22, 23 and 24

For those of you that have read this before on my list, there is a little bit changed, trying to answer a few questions people were asking (and change one part that didn't quite make sense). It's not much, just a couple of extra lines added in part 23 and a small change in a conversation in part 24.

Someone asked again if I would consider putting the unedited part up at AF net. I've been thinking about it and I just can't make myself right now. I just got a position at an elementary school, and you hear such horror stories about teachers that have been fired because of things they put up on facebook and the like. Maybe I'm a bit paranoid, but the job is too new to stress myself out over something like that, so at the moment, I'm not going to upload the unedited parts anywhere except my yahoogroup.

Part 21/?

Aine, the Tuatha de Danaan goddess of healing, fertility, protection and prosperity, walked beside the young half-breed, Connor O'Feahr. They were on their way to meet with the newest foundling to enter Underhill. Her foster daughter, Ehlana, had already headed over to meet the boy and had had about twelve hours to get to know him. Word was, they were of an age. Perhaps there would be sparks there. She'd even get grandchildren quicker than usual. She grinned to herself.

They entered the room with a greeting on their lips, but the room was empty. "Ehlana?" she called out worriedly.

"Mother!" Ehlana screamed out from the bathroom. They raced in.

Ehlana was rubbing a wet washcloth over the back of Harry's neck as he threw up. He dropped down, panting, his eyes closed as he desperately tried to keep his stomach where it belonged. It wasn't as if there was anything left in there to come up.

"What's wrong with him?" Connor asked, concerned.

"You brought him Underhill! That's what's wrong!" Ehlana almost shouted. Only Harry's almost soundless whimper kept her from it. He really wasn't feeling well enough for an argument right then.

"What do you mean?" Connor was shocked. He had never heard Ehlana yell before and he'd known her since she was first adopted by Aine.

"Now is not the time," Aine said softly.

Harry struggled against his overwhelming exhaustion when he heard the DADA professor's voice. *There* was the one who had brought him here. Who had taken him away from his husband and father. The one whose fault his current sickness was. Using all of the energy he had, he grabbed what was nearest and flung it at the man. The wet rag might not have had the impact he wanted, but at least he'd gotten his displeasure across. He did wish that it could have at least had something slimy on it, but, oh, well.

Aine smiled slightly. Connor probably deserved that. The smile dropped from her face as she started checking over her new patient, murmuring comfortingly to him.

Harry could *feel* her voice drifting over him. It was warm and comforting, and seemed to make him feel better just from hearing it. Her hands were felt next. Warmth seemed to radiate from them, and as they settled over his stomach, he sighed in relief. The pain of abused muscles was fading, and the awful, rolling sensation was settling back down. As the pain drifted away, so did he, into a deep sleep; only his sickness had kept him awake as his body worked almost beyond it's limits to keep the embryonic entity inside alive.

"Ehlana, could you explain that remark you made?" Aine asked as she worked.

"Well, first of all, according to Harry, Connor was way off base about him. He was abused by the relatives that took care of him when he was little, but not by his new father. And he thought the idea that Snape had anything to do with him getting pregnant was sickening." She held up his hand, showing off the ring that could be seen there. "He's married. And, he's pregnant by his husband."

By this time Connor was pale, almost shaking. He couldn't have been that wrong, could he? But Dumbledore had been so certain.

"As for what's the matter with him now, from what he's said, his magic kept his body stable, dealing with a lot of the problems he would normally have had as a pregnant male. Now that his source of magic has been stripped away from him, he's got nothing protecting him, and his body is revolting."

"He's a mage?" Aine's voice was shocked as she stared at Connor.

"Yes," Connor admitted, not understanding.

"You brought a *pregnant mage* to Underhill? Mages can't use our type of magic!" She sighed angrily. "Right now, absolutely all of his innate magic is being used to keep the foetus healthy, leaving none for any part of his own body that doesn't have something to do with the baby. Even with my help, he won't be able to eat anything while he's here. I doubt he will wake up again."

"What do you mean?" Ehlana asked, distressed. "You don't mean..."

"No, dear, I don't. I simply mean that now that he is no longer throwing up and doesn't have to worry about drowning in his own sickness, he will not have the energy to wake up while he's in Underhill. Once he is returned to the outer world, he will be fine." Aine gently stroked the boy's hair off of his forehead. If what Ehlana had said was true... how could Connor have been so wrong? It wasn't like him. Certainly, he was still young, barely more than half a century, but he still should not have made such a major mistake.

"Mayhap, Harry has been brainwashed or the like? Dumbledore did be positive Snape was harming him," Connor suggested.

"Oh, Harry doesn't like Dumbledore, at all," Ehlana told them. "According to him, Dumbledore tried to murder the child he carries."

"That canna' be!" Connor disagreed.

"It is." Ehlana asserted. "He said Dumbledore knew what his relatives did to him and never did anything about it."

"If this be true," Aine said softly, distress bringing forth an accent she rarely used any more, "then things are worse than ye know. Dumbledore be the holder of one of the Treasures. It was given to him to hide because he was trusted. If he has purposefully harmed, and allowed to be harmed, one of the children under his protection, then the Treasure be no longer safe within his possession." She looked at the boy in front of her and calculated. They needed to know the truth of this. More than that, their King needed to know the truth of this.

The question then, was, could they get this young man to Silverhand and back to the outside world before it became dangerous to him. She would not risk either his life and health or that of his child, but they had to have the knowledge he contained. Of course, just getting him awake and coherent enough to talk in the condition he was in would be difficult, but she was sure she could manage that much.

Perhaps if there was some way to get him more of his type of magic? There was an artifact that held magic, but it was in the outside world and it actually held too much power. The way he was right now, the boy would try to pull too much power into him, in order to heal himself, and could possibly burn himself out in the attempt, trying to use it to support himself and the child within. What they really needed...

"Are there any other mages in the outer world right now?" she asked thoughtfully.

Connor thought for a moment. "Besides the Headmaster, I believe that Harry's new father and his best friend are mages."

"We need one of them, go get one."

Connor blanched. "They'll both want to kill me on sight!"

"Just tell them Harry needs them. If they love him like he thinks, whichever one you ask will come, whether they hate you or not." Was Aine's response. Connor made the mess, he'd have to help work it out.

Unhappily, Connor agreed.

Part 22/?

Lucius wished he could see the reactions of the people around him, but his total attention was taken up with the man he was facing. He took a savage sort of satisfaction in the flicker of surprise momentarily visible in the older mage's eyes.

"Lucius, may I speak to you for a moment?" Severus spoke softly from behind him.

Lucius turned to the Aurors he had brought with him. "Watch him," he ordered. "I state for the record that I have currently placed Albus Dumbledore on suspended status." He continued addressing the Aurors, "He is not to *move* until I get back, or your heads will roll as well. Am I understood?"

The Aurors that had come in with him nodded nervously and grasped their wands more tightly. They would not fail. They had heard rumors of what happened to those who failed the new Minister. Cleaning out a liche's charnel pit would be a far better job than what those poor saps now had to do.

Lucius followed Severus through the door and out of sight. What had taken Neville long, hard minutes to do, based on hours of studying, Severus now did within moments. The difference in power between the two was never more obvious.

Lucius sighed in relief. He'd been fighting off the compulsion for the past half-hour. Only his utter worry for the fate of his husband had allowed him to maintain resistance. Now, that the struggle was no longer necessary, it felt as if his head had been relieved of a crushing pressure.

He nodded his gratitude to his best friend and headed back through the doors. As soon as the two stepped in, they could feel it. Permeating the room was an overwhelming feeling of 'trust me, I'm harmless', mixed with a heavy lassitude. The two mages looked at each other and grinned evilly. The almost asleep Aurors and students were suddenly ripped from their somnolence by twin strikes of unadulterated rage.

"That," Lucius purred darkly. "Is what is known as 'aura magic'. It's a type of compulsion magic, dangerous because a wand is not needed, nor do words need to be said. It works best by mages, on mages, but as you can see, it works quite well on normal wizards if the mage in question puts enough power into it, and the wizards and witches are gullible enough."

"Now *Albus*, I believe I asked you a question, and I am not in the mood to wait around for the answer. Where... Is... My... Husband?" Lucius had been stalking forward determinedly with each word he said, until he was once more face-to-face with the Headmaster, or perhaps that should be *former* Headmaster of the school.

"I was not aware that you were acquainted with Professor O'Feahr," Dumbledore said solidly.

The students burst into quiet whispers. It was pretty obvious to all of them, except perhaps the youngest, that the new Minister was speaking of Harry. How could the Headmaster not know that? He knew everything! Even the other teachers were looking at him askance.

"Why no, Albus, I haven't met O'Feahr. I will once you tell me where to find him, though. I'm *quite* looking forward to it."

Everyone who heard that felt a shiver go up their spine and many of the girls began to mourn their cute DADA professor.

About that time, Hermione came bursting through the doors, a dour looking Madam Faire right behind her. "I think I've got it!" she said triumphantly.

"Then I suppose *you* are not currently necessary to this war council, are you?" Lucius purred, still looking at the ex-Headmaster. "Arrest him for attempted murder, child endangerment, abetting child abuse, using compulsion magic, and abetting a kidnapping. And those are just some of the charges that you will answer for that apply to your actions with Harry. I have the feeling we will be increasing them a thousand times before we're done."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Then again, I've never heard of anyone that you've treated as abominably as you have Harry. Except, perhaps, Tom Riddle. Were you trying to turn him into a Dark Lord? Trying to make sure you always had an enemy to fight, so the wizarding world would always look upon you as a hero? Or was it just that they were both mages? And you didn't want anyone around that had a chance of being more powerful than yourself? Don't worry, Albus, we will be getting these answers, and more... at your trial. It should be interesting, don't you think?"

There was not so much as a glimpse of a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he rose from his chair. This was the mage who had defeated Grindelwald and helped to protect the wizarding world from the ravages of Voldemort. This was a very powerful and venerable mage, and woe to he who forgets that fact.

"I believe this has gone on far enough," he said softly. "You came here in an attempt to solidify your own power base by trying to tear down mine, but it will not work. I do not know where your baseless accusations have come from, but it is over. You will leave here, now."

"You're wrong," Lucius hissed. "I came for one reason, and one reason only. To find out what happened to Harry Snape. Taking you down is only a happy coincidence. You have toyed and played with his life long enough, I will not allow you to do so any longer. You will pay for your crimes against him. Believe me on this."

The two stood facing each other in a hush that should have been impossible, considering the number of children in the room, but even the youngest and most naive first years could feel the tension and challenge inherent in this confrontation.

The one it was broken by was perhaps not the *last* person expected, but close enough. Pansy Parkinson stood up. "Slytherin House stands behind the Minister of Magic," she intoned regally.

Ginny Weasley stood up. "As does Gryffindor."

Many glances were exchanged along the length of Ravenclaw table before a seventh year, Roan Blankenship stood up. "Ravenclaw will follow Minister Malfoy."

There was some hesitation from Hufflepuff, but finally, sixth year Justin Finch-Fletchley stood up to put their House behind the Minister. In truth, most of them had no idea what was going on, but were simply going with the flow, and for many, going with what they believed Harry Potter, even if he was a Snape now, would wish.

Ginny called over to the only seventh year standing. "I'm surprised that the intellectual Ravenclaws would think this was very logical."

Roan shrugged. "What can I say, Zabini's hot."

This was said with such a deadpan delivery that it took most students a moment to realize what had been said. Several first and second years suddenly got cases of the giggles, followed quickly by most of the students. True, it had not been that funny, but anything to ease the tension was a welcome relief.

Blaise looked the Ravenclaw up and down and licked his lips. "Perhaps we could discuss my attractiveness later?" he suggested, leering. Which did nothing to help lesson the hilarity.

Only the adults were immune from the laughter surrounding them. Lucius hadn't moved a muscle from where he was facing down the Headmaster, who had just seen his school choose someone else over himself. Out of the corner of his eye, Albus watched Severus have a quiet word with several of the teachers. He noticed their looks of disbelief and disgust turn to anger, and knew what Snape had been telling them. His thoughts were born out almost immediately.

"Is this true, Albus?" Minerva McGonagall asked sternly. "Did you use a compulsion on Poppy to try to make her kill the child Harry is carrying?"

"What?" Madam Faire had obviously heard that. "Not only did you try to force an abortion on someone who most certainly didn't want it, but you tried to use mind-control to get a *medi-witch* to do it?"

Severus, meanwhile, had been working on said medi-witch. Now that he had a bit of practice breaking compulsions, he went to work on the deep seated ones in Madam Pomfrey's mind. And managed to break them. She immediately joined the other two.

Lucius found himself having a hard time holding back a grin. "I believe going with my Aurors to a nice, magic-dampened cell, would be quite preferable to letting those three get a hold of you," he suggested.

Looking at the furious faces of the three grandmothers, Albus couldn't help but silently agree.

Part 23/?

Connor stood outside the doors of the Great Hall, looking in. He'd been raised half Underhill and half in the mortal world. He'd fought some of the strongest, most magical of the Sidhe in the course of his training. He'd once stolen a fresh pie from his grandmother. To anyone that didn't know her, that wouldn't be a big thing, but his friends had celebrated that deed for years. He'd proven his bravery in a hundred small ways. He did *not* want to walk into that Hall. Peeking in the doorway, he watched a bit of the drama going on. He *really* didn't want to walk into that room.

Maybe it would be better to find the young one, Draco Malfoy, who didn't seem to be in the room. Surely, he could convince him that Harry needed his help, and they could leave *without* going in there.

Of course, he wasn't expecting Draco to find him first. The wand tip suddenly poking him in the back was the first sign he had that he wasn't alone.

The next indication that showed things weren't going well was when a red-haired boy, the older Weasley, went running into the Hall waving a piece of parchment. "He's here!"

"Harry?" Lucius asked immediately.

Ron shook his head, gasping. "The Professor!" He looked at the parchment again and his eyes widened. "He's just outside the door, and he's got Draco!" He pointed to the door he meant.

"Actually," Draco's voice came into the room before he did. "I've got him." The door pushed open and Connor walked carefully through, trying to keep an eye on the blonde boy prodding him forward so confidently.

Lucius and Severus stalked forward, looking like a pair of deadly, hungry, predators, with their prey lame before them and unable to run. Connor tried desperately to keep that picture out of his head. He really didn't need anything to make him less comfortable than he already was. All right, all right, so he was scared almost out of his mind. He wasn't quite sure why the blonde man, who had to be Draco's father, looked every bit as deadly, dangerous and completely angry with him as Snape did. All he really knew was that these two were not happy, and it was entirely his fault.

"O'Feahr!" Severus growled. "Where is Harry?"

"I'm sorry," Connor blurted out.

Eyes went wide as minds interpreted that differently than he had meant.

"What's happened?" Lucius barked. "Where is he?"

"Sorry for what?" Severus shot out. "Did something happen to him or the baby?"

Connor shook his head as fast as he could. He knew if he didn't calm them down now, he'd be cursed to The Island of Youth and back. He might not be able to keep that from happening anyway. "No, no, I'm just sorry that I took him away without getting all of the facts. I thought I was doing what was best for him. From things that had been said, I was mislead about his circumstances. Perhaps, purposefully mislead," he turned to look at the Headmaster.

"So, where is he?" Draco asked, prodding with his wand to make sure his DADA teacher didn't forget about him.

"I wanted to protect him, so I took him Underhill." Connor explained.

"You took a pregnant mage Underhill?" the shrill voice belonged to a very perturbed medi-witch.

"How come everyone *else* knows that was a bad choice?" Connor said plaintively. "He's okay though. He's under Aine's protection."

Lucius had been watching Madam Faire since her first words and saw her relax at those. "Why would taking him to Underhill be dangerous?" he asked.

"I told you he uses magic to stabilize his body's changes," she explained. "From what I understand, the magic of the Sidhe is simply too different for him to use it that way. And he truly needs that magic, especially after having it for the first six weeks. However, if Aine is taking care of him, it isn't nearly as bad as it could be."

"Who is this Aine?" Severus asked.

"Aine is a Tuatha de Danaan. To the early Celts she was goddess of healing, fertility and protection. She's probably the best of their Healers. Much better than that Dian Cecht," she explained.

"I'll not tell him you said that, if you don't mind," Connor muttered.

"If you were mislead, and know it, then why did you not bring him back?" Lucius asked.

"A couple of reasons," Connor suddenly ignored all of the dangers he'd been worrying about, stood up straight, and looked both of them in their eyes. "Yes, from what Harry said to Ehlana, I was wrong. However, in the end, that is only his word. That he has been abused, there is no doubt in my or anyone's mind. He says that you, Professor Snape, were not the one to do it. He would not be the first abused child to lie about who did the abusing. He says he is married, although he is young for it, and that the child is his husband's. Again, we have no proof of this except for what he said to a girl his own age. He is not currently capable of answering questions, and we will *not* return him until all of the questions have been answered to our satisfaction."

"Also, there is something he has said of which we need confirmation. Or perhaps I should say that our King needs him to confirm the information. It is not currently dangerous for Harry to stay Underhill. Especially if another mage comes with an Orb of Wespor."

"And why should we not just declare war on the Sidhe for taking him from us in the first place?" Lucius purred.

Connor blinked. That they would do something like that, he had never even considered. Surely he didn't mean that? He was the Minister of Magic! He might be able to, but surely he wouldn't actually do such a thing! Not over a boy who, although considered the savior of the wizarding world, was, to him, just a friend of his son's. Right?

Looking deep into the almost expressionless face in front of him, he suddenly felt that maybe he *wasn't* right. There was a solid, bone-deep commitment there. This man would do what he had to do, no matter what that might be.

"Why would you do that?" he asked, totally confused.

"Simple," Lucius answered, determined. "He is *my* husband."

Connor actually managed to keep his mouth closed on his first response. Somehow he didn't think asking if he wasn't a little old to have a sixteen year old husband would go over too well at this point.

Instead, Connor dipped his head. "You could, of course, but I do not feel that would be in the best interest of either of our worlds."

"I am Lucius Malfoy," was his reply. The rest of it 'and I can do whatever I damn well please', was unsaid, but not unheard.

There wasn't really any way to argue with that.

Connor felt he had to get control of the conversation quickly. "You just got out of a war, your people do not want to enter another, especially when there is no need. Harry was not taken to harm him or anyone else. Assuming we can be assured of his safety and well-being, he will be returned in what, to you, is only hours. If Professor Snape returns with me, and we can find an Orb, Harry would be home again in six hours or less. But Nuada Silverhand must speak to him."

"And why Severus, and not myself?" Lucius asked darkly.

"A mage is necessary," Connor explained. "An Orb of Wespor contains a large amount of your type of magic. A mage would be able to safely transfer that power from the Orb to Harry without worrying about overloading him."

"That is not a restriction," Lucius admitted.

"You're a mage?" Connor burst out, parroted by another voice.

Everyone turned to look at the speaker, Dumbledore. Lucius smirked. "Your reputation as omniscient is truly taking a beating today."

"How come I have never heard of this before?" Dumbledore asked.

"Because I chose for you not to know," Lucius admitted easily. "Even Draco was not aware of my status until this summer. It had never before come up, and there was no need to speak of it. If Harry, Severus and my son had needed my magic to take down the Dark Lord, they would have had it, but I was of greater use guarding them from the Death Eaters, and three mages was enough."

"I would have thought being known as a mage would be good for your reputation," Ron commented questioningly.

"Malfoys have been mages for many years. We're not the only family that has kept that secret. It would surprise me far more if Harry and Draco were the only mages in Hogwarts at this time than if they're not. Being known as a mage when only a few are known about is far more dangerous than you would believe," Lucius answered.

Connor brought them back to the topic at hand. "In that case, your presence would be acceptable."

"And what about me?" Draco asked, having finally lowered his wand.

Connor shook his head. "By our rules, you are still a child. You could come as the mage, but we would not give him into your keeping. Either his father or his husband must be the one to retrieve him."

"That sucks," Draco sulked.

"And we need to return soon," Connor admitted. "One hour here is almost a full day back home, and it's already been a day and a half for him."

Lucius and Severus considered each other. "You're needed here," Severus reminded him.

"As are you, now that the Headmaster has been removed from his duties."

"And are you planning on being absent while he still has enough power to get free?" Severus argued.

"I believe I can help with both that problem and your other one," a voice Connor had never heard before said. They all turned to look at the speaker. Connor looked around, trying to figure it out. Finally he realized it was a picture. Instead of being on the wall, like most of the portraits he had seen, it was being carried by one of the Aurors.

"What do you mean, you can help, Salazar?" Draco asked.

Salazar? Slytherin?

"Rowena had several libraries and workspaces hidden around here. I believe she not only had the Orb you're looking for, but a set of manacles that would block all magic ability," the portrait replied.

"Rowena Ravenclaw only had one main library," Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw, spoke up. "It was found several centuries ago."

"It wasn't the only one," Salazar disagreed. "None of us had only one. Place me on the wall and I can lead someone to it. I do believe the only way to get to it would be through the Ravenclaw dormitories. If one or two students will follow me, I believe we can find it. Perhaps, Zabini and the boy who stood up?"

Blaise immediately stood up and moved to the Ravenclaw table, grabbing Roan's arm. "Come on."

Roan was a little reluctant.

"Are you telling me you *don't* want to see one of the Founders' hidden libraries?" Blaise asked in disbelief.

Well, when he put it that way...

Salazar Slytherin's portrait was placed on the wall and he almost immediately disappeared from it, promising to move to one of the portraits on the route to the blue and bronze dorms. The two students chased after him, leaving Lucius and Severus still arguing over who was going to go after the boy who was so important to them both.

Part 24/?

Aine watched over the child that had been brought to her. "Where is he?" she muttered.

"Mother Aine," Ehlana said softly. "You know time moves differently between this world and that one. Connor will be moving as quickly as he can, but they are not going to be happy to see him, nor very willing to listen to him."

"They had better," Aine answered darkly. "He needs them here, now."

Ehlana sat up straight. "I thought you said he'd be fine!"

Aine looked remorseful as she realized she had worried her foster daughter. "He will be," she reassured her. "I would simply feel better if we could get some food, or at least water, into him. Unfortunately, that's not possible right now. Now that he's asleep, we won't have to seriously worry about dehydration for several days, but that doesn't mean that I, as would you I'm sure, wouldn't feel better if he was awake, and capable of taking care of himself."

Ehlana nodded. That was certainly true. "What do you think his husband is like?" she asked thoughtfully.

That led to a gossip session such as only a mother and daughter could have. The fact they had no idea who Harry's lover might be didn't matter in the least.

Blaise Zabini, Slytherin, raced ahead of Roan Blankenship, Ravenclaw, trying to keep his House Founder in sight as they ran. You wouldn't think a guy as old as Salazar Slytherin could move that fast... even if he was just a portrait running through other portraits.

"So," he panted to the boy just behind him. "You think I'm hot?"

"Is this the time Zabini?" Roan ground out.

"Anyone who thinks I'm attractive can call me Blaise, and it's always the time," he answered back immediately, as he skidded to a stop in front of a tapestry of a man sitting in a library. "Where did he go?" he asked, looking around frantically.

Roan laughed as best he could; it had been a very fast run. He walked over to the person in the tapestry and whispered a word. The tapestry rolled up, disclosing a hole that Roan immediately moved through. Blaise followed happily behind. He would have been happier if the person in front of him hadn't been wearing a robe, but the sight was nice enough as it was.

Salazar was waiting impatiently. "Wait here, I need to check it out first," he ordered, then disappeared again.

"Where did he come from?" Roan asked curiously, "and why is he helping?"

"From what I understand, there was a secret room in Malfoy Manor that Harry found. His portrait was there. There must have been a spell keeping him, and portraits of every Dark Lord since, from leaving the room. He was the only one they brought out, though." Blaise shrugged. "I know he's usually hanging in the library. He seems to like the Malfoy family, and Harry is most definitely a member of that family."

Roan shook his head. "I still have trouble believing that. Harry Potter and Lucius Malfoy. Draco, maybe, but the Minister?"

Blaise shrugged. "You need to see them together to really understand. They are what each other needs. And they're cute together, though if you tell Mr. Malfoy I said that, I'm going to curse you straight through graduation." He sighed dramatically. "At least now I know why he wouldn't ever date me; he prefers older men."

"You were interested in Potter?" Roan asked with curiosity.

"And you weren't?" Blaise laughed. "Please! Every gay boy and straight girl in the school has had a crush on him at one point or another. Most straight boys and gay girls too, they just won't admit it. The only difference is, I knew when all chance was lost." He looked over at the seventh year student. "Enough about Harry. Let's talk about me."

"Vain, aren't you?" Roan muttered.

"I am what I am," Blaise's eyes were now completely serious. "I know exactly what my looks are, and it's not vanity if it's true."

"With your mother..." Roan began, understanding a small amount.

Salazar's voice broke up the scenario. "It's this way."

Blaise immediately turned to follow. Roan's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I don't know what you are, but I would like the chance to find out... once we've finished what we came here to do."

Blaise just watched him for a long moment, before nodding slowly. "I can agree to that."

Albus Dumbledore carefully watched those around him, while seeming to be looking off into the distance. He'd felt a large sense of relief at finding out Lucius Malfoy was the father of Harry's child, but if the Minister wasn't lying... if he was indeed a mage... then things were every bit as bad as he'd thought when he'd considered Severus or Draco to be the father. Why could they not see the problems that were going to arise? He had only done what was necessary, but they couldn't see that. Now, even Minerva was turning from him, something he would never have believed possible. Why didn't she understand that he had a reason? She had always trusted that he knew what was best for the wizarding world and the children they taught. Why didn't she trust him now?

Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House and Professor of Transfiguration, found herself far more angry than she had ever been before. Even the death of her beloved husband, those thirty years before, had not made her this angry. She had trusted Albus! Even when she'd had her doubts, she had followed him. She had always believed he knew what he was doing, and was sure that he had a good reason for it all, even if he had never explained.

Now, she had to doubt all of it.

She glared at her boss as she tried to calm down the distraught medi-witch. The idea! Not only had he tried to kill Harry's child, but he'd *compelled* Poppy to help him! She couldn't help but think of both the grandchild she was waiting for, her seventh, and her first great-grandchild, the one she'd just received word of. What if something like this had happened to them? And why would he do that? That was the worst thing at the moment. Albus was still refusing to admit to anything, much less explain. She *needed* an explanation. She needed to know she hadn't wasted more than thirty years of her life, following someone who wasn't worthy of her devotion.

Draco watched, amused, as his father and professor argued. Honestly, he wasn't sure which one was going to win, he also didn't care. He'd already decided he was going along. After all, if they were only going to be gone for about six hours Hogwarts' time, then he didn't have to worry about missing any classes. Besides, an extra mage certainly wouldn't hurt.

Of course, there was also the fact that he blamed himself for Harry being taken in the first place. He'd *known* that he shouldn't have left Harry there without human back-up. He'd bloody well known it! But nooo, he'd allowed that Tuatha de Danaan to chase him off, and look what happened! It wasn't going to happen again. He wouldn't let either his best friend or his father down again. He was going, and they'd just have to get used to that idea.

He glared at Professor O'Feahr, who was standing, listening to the argument with a bewildered expression on his face. Draco wished he'd hexed him when he first saw him standing in the corridor. He didn't think he'd be able to do it unobtrusively at the moment, and his father wouldn't allow it now, at this point. As soon as the DADA professor led them to Harry, however, he'd show him exactly how he felt about what had happened.

The reporter watched in utter frustration. This was the scoop of the century! The millennium even! Just the fact that Harry Potter and Lucius Malfoy were married would make him famous. Add in the fact that the Golden Boy was pregnant with the Minister's child and it would be assured. But on top of all of that, was the fact that Albus Dumbledore, who some would say was the Light's greatest hero, being arrested for attempted murder on that child? The wizarding world would go up in flames! And he'd be known as the one with the exclusive! If only he hadn't made that contract not to write anything without the Minister's express permission! What if someone else found out about it before he had permission to write about it? The universe couldn't be that cruel!

He could see his anguish mirrored in the other reporter's eyes. Surely they'd be able to put this out soon. Surely!


	8. Chapter 25, 26, 27 and 28

Hmm... not many responses from last chapter. I think I got a little spoiled from the responses to the cliffhanger grin. Ah well, I know you're still enjoying it, so enjoy this part as well!

Part 25/? 

Lucius and Draco Malfoy, Madam Lillith Faire, and Connor O'Feahr moved quickly through the woods towards Aine's home. Draco couldn't believe that Lucius had *ordered* Severus to stay behind and handle things. Matters were going to be very strained when they returned, but hopefully, Harry would be able to settle them down.

Probably even that order wouldn't have worked, if O'Feahr hadn't reminded them that every hour that passed in their world, would be a day for Harry in Underhill. It was only in the interest of getting help to Harry sooner that Severus curbed his argument. There were no hexes, curses or strange potions involved at all.

He looked down at the Orb he was carrying. Blaise and Blankenship hadn't had much time to talk about what they found in the Ravenclaw secret rooms, but they seemed pretty excited about it. They were looking at each other with interest as well. He wondered if this would be just another unrequited crush for his friend, or if the two actually had a chance for more. He didn't know Blankenship too well; different Houses, especially different years, tended not to have a lot to do with each other, but he had never heard anything bad about the Ravenclaw. Not that Blaise was a virgin, not by any stretch of the imagination, but Draco knew how tired he was getting of one night, or occasionally, one week stands.

Remembering Headmaster Dumbledore in the magic dampening bracelets, Draco really had to wonder if his father was doing the right thing. The Aurors had taken the elder mage away, but he was in no way beaten. That had been obvious in every move he made, every word he said, however few of them there were. Truthfully, he would have felt better if his father had been in charge of Dumbledore's care. After all, Severus had spent twenty years under his thumb, and just because they'd broken one compulsion, didn't mean that's all there was. There might yet be some deep-seated ones that they'd never considered. No, he wasn't sure this was a good idea at all.

They reached the goddess' home. Coming to visit a goddess, he was expecting something like the Manor, or perhaps more on the lines of the Castle in the Sky. Instead, the building they were headed for seemed barely a building at all, blending inconspicuously with the surrounding environment. If it had more than one floor, it was buried underground. Still, somehow, it was nearly impossible to tell how large the structure was. It almost seemed as if there were trees growing out of the middle of it, making it even more difficult to guess the dimensions.

Professor O'Feahr headed to the front door and knocked. Moments later it opened. Only long years of training in keeping his emotions hidden, kept Draco's eyes from widening and his mouth from dropping open. *This* was Aine? That she was a goddess he had little doubt, but a couple of thousand-years-old one? That wasn't possible.

"Connor, you're here!" she greeted happily. "Oh, thank Magda, you brought them with you." She addressed the group, introducing herself, "Come in, come in. I'm Ehlana, Aine's current foster daughter."

Draco smiled very slightly. So, this golden haired girl wasn't thousands of years old. Was she even Tuatha de Danaan? He would be interested in finding out; she was certainly prettier than any of the girls at Hogwarts. His interest was immediately sidetracked at his father's words.

"Where is Harry?" Lucius barked out.

The pretty little girl did something neither of the Malfoys expected. She drew herself up straight, stared him directly in the eye and barked right back. "Who are you and why do you care?"

"I'm Lucius Malfoy," he hissed back. "And I want to know where my husband is, now!"

She still didn't seem even the slightest bit intimidated. Instead she smiled happily. "Oh, so you're the handsome older man he's so besotted with. He wouldn't say who you were, but he was really not happy with being taken away from you. I know that for sure. Come on, I'll show you where he is. Are you a mage? He really needs a mage. Mother Aine said he's still okay, but she'd feel a lot better if we could wake him up. If we do that now, though, he'd just go back to throwing up, and that's the last thing he needs."

"Both I, and my son, are mages," Lucius declared as he strode after her, followed by the rest of his party.

She turned her head around and looked at Draco. "Hopefully, that means you're Harry's best friend," she said with a grin. "Because if you're his father, I'd really have to rethink my impressions of the outside world."

Draco was startled into a laugh. "Yes, I am his friend. I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Nice to meet you," she said as she opened a door and walked in. They quickly followed her, their eyes immediately going to a familiar figure on the bed.

Lucius was beside his husband in two long strides, with Draco only a second behind, and the medi-witch bustling up immediately after.

Madam Faire pushed her way to the front, and immediately started checking the black-haired boy. She nodded over what she found. "He's almost completely drained of magic. Everything he's manufacturing is going straight to the baby." She frowned. "He's going to need a healing draught as soon as we can get one into him. He was so sick, it started burning the lining of his throat."

"We've already got something brewed up," Ehlana admitted. "We were just waiting until he could wake up. Let me go get Mother Aine, then we'll be able to do it." She darted out of the room, seemingly not noticing the eyes following her.

Draco watched her leave before turning back to his friend. However, his eyes caught the figure of a redhead standing in a corner. They had found Harry. Surely, no one would mind if he got a little of his revenge... as long as it didn't use too much of the magic Harry might need. Without even bothering to get out his wand, he shot off a small spell. More a nuisance spell than anything else; it caused boils to grow in embarrassing places. It was only the start of what he had planned for the DADA teacher. 

By this time, Lucius was sitting on the bed, running his hand over Harry's hair, as he knew he liked. He was talking quietly to him, while holding his hand with the one not petting him. Draco settled down next to him and went to pick up Harry's other hand, when he felt a difference in the magic around him. It took him a moment to realize what it was. Harry was automatically trying to draw magic into himself. That wasn't a big deal, they'd shared magic before... besides, that's what he was here for. However, when Draco felt Harry trying to draw on the Orb he carried, that's when he moved. He was across the room, against the wall in mere moments.

He'd heard and understood the warnings, and was determined to heed them while Harry was incapacitated. The Orb had too much power to draw in all at once. If Harry tried it while unconscious, he could fry himself with an overload. That's why a mage had been necessary in the first place, to regulate the flow.

"Bring it over here," Lucius ordered.

Draco pulled out the Orb and walked over, frowning as he checked the magic currents around the room every step of the way. He was not going to let Harry hurt himself. As he got closer to his father, he could practically *see* the magic being pulled out of the elder Malfoy. Or... no, it wasn't being pulled, so much as being pushed. Although Harry was drawing some, Lucius was sending far more than that. He hadn't expected to need the Orb to refill his *father's* stores. But, doing it this way made sense. It would be safer, more controlled. Draco watched, sensing what was being done, as his father monitored Harry and fed the magic into him, at the rate and in the quantity he and the developing child needed.

Madam Faire was observing the magic flow, checking on the well-being of her patient. She couldn't tell what was happening, but she could tell that Harry's magic was being refilled, as more power was heading for places other than the baby and the womb.

Aine strode in with Ehlana on her heels. Draco looked over at her. This was more what he had expected. Not that she looked old, for she certainly didn't, seeming to be in her mid-thirties or so. However, there was an air about her, of competency and agelessness.

She checked Harry over as competently as Madam Faire did. Upon seeing that his magic levels were up significantly, she slowly allowed him to wake up.

Harry gradually awoke. The first thing he felt was an overwhelming lassitude. His mouth tasted as if something had died in it, and his throat was burning. But he wasn't throwing up. That was a plus. His next thought was that there was a hand in his, and another petting his hair. Only one person touched him like that. He opened his eyes slowly and smiled.

"Lucius," he murmured happily.

Part 26/?

"Harry," Lucius answered back softly. "How are you feeling?" He dropped down to steal a kiss, but was surprised when Harry turned his head away so that it landed on his cheek.

Harry smiled up at him ruefully. "My mouth tastes like I just drank a Polyjuice potion. You really don't want to kiss me right now," he said in a hoarse voice.

"I believe I can help with that," a voice said from over Lucius' shoulder.

"Madam Faire?" Harry said in surprise. "What are you... the baby? Is it okay?" He sat up quickly, his arms wrapping protectively around his stomach.

"The baby is in better condition than you at the moment," she told him. She handed him a vial of the healing potion Aine had brought in. He gulped it down quickly.

"I don't think that helped my mouth any," he said, although he had to admit his throat was feeling much better.

"No, but this might," she smiled as she handed over the other drink she had.

He took one sniff and his face brightened. He immediately took a drink.

"Is that the tea Madam Faire had Hermione get?" Draco asked with interest.

"Yeah," Harry admitted after swallowing. "It's a tea that Cattie makes. It not only tastes good, it's a great anti-nausea potion."

Lucius turned Harry's head towards him. This time, when he dove down for a kiss, Harry met him eagerly.

The three females and Draco watched with indulgent smiles on their faces for a minute. Draco and Ehlana struggled not to giggle as the kiss went on and on. When hands started to wander, the elder ones decided enough was enough.

Aine delicately cleared her throat. The hands stopped moving, but that was the only acknowledgment she received.

"That's enough," she finally said firmly. "We have things that need to be discussed, and the young one needs to sleep."

Harry finally pulled his mouth away to glare at her. "I thank you for all your help, but since it was one of your people that caused my problems in the first place, forgive me for not feeling too grateful. Also, I have no need for more sleep, and I am *not* a child."

Aine just laughed. "To me, all mortals are children; some are just younger than others. I do not expect your gratitude, for you are correct in that it was Connor's unthinking actions that brought you here. However, I do expect your compliance, if for naught but the fact that I am far older than you, and have been healing both humans and others for several millennia. Irregardless of the fact that you believe yourself to be well, your body went through a fair ordeal and it has not fully recovered. Your friend will not leave your side while you rest, and Ehlana will be nearby as well."

He frowned, looking over at Draco. "How did you three get here anyway?"

Draco jerked his head towards the man waiting in the corner. "He brought us."

Harry looked over there and his expression grew hard. "Professor O'Feahr," he said, absolutely aching for his wand and enough magic to safely do what he so desperately wished.

Aine patted him on the hand, bringing his attention back to her. "Don't worry dear; it will all turn out alright in the end. Now, I'm just going to borrow your husband, we need to talk. You go to sleep. When you wake up, just go over to that wardrobe there and it will make anything you wish, and make sure it fits. You may get up *only* if you've slept yourself out. If I find you're still tired, it will be straight back to bed and I'll make *sure* you stay there." She patted him once more before sailing out of the door, pulling everyone except the three teenagers out with her.

Draco started talking of everything that had happened at Hogwarts after he had disappeared. Harry listened as well as he could, but he really was far more tired than he thought he was. Once he was asleep, Draco tested his magic levels and finding them still slightly low, opened a link between them, allowing his magic to flow through to his friend. He turned to his fellow Harry-sitter and settled in for what he seriously hoped would be an interesting conversation. It didn't matter how beautiful she was if she couldn't even hold a decent conversation. Well, okay, it mattered a little...

Lucius watched his hostess carefully while still keeping a large part of his attention on the room they had just left. "What do you want?" he asked brusquely.

"We have some questions," she answered serenely.

"As do I," Lucius agreed.

"Who harmed that boy?" she asked immediately.

"At what point?" he replied. "He was fighting Voldemort from the time he was eleven, as well as playing Quidditch and taking a serious part in the dueling club. Most of his wounds and all but one of his scars however, came from his relatives and the bullies that his cousin was friends with." Lucius decided to be brutally honest with the woman. Having the Tuatha de Danaan on his side would be well worth it.

"Why did Dumbledore not do anything about this? Did he not know?"

"Now that is the question. Did he know? With utmost certainty. Why did he choose to let Harry grow up there? That I still don't have a solid answer on."

"Ye seem sure that he knew; do ye have proof?" Connor spoke up for the first time.

Lucius' glare pinned him to the chair and made him wish he'd never spoken. Lucius waited several more seconds, making sure the man was well and fully cowed before answering the question. "As it happens, I do. In fact, that's where all of the Aurors I brought with me to Hogwarts came from. From the moment Harry was given into the keeping of the Dursleys, he was watched. The Aurors reported on everything that happened, but they were not to interfere unless Harry was in danger of dying, being seriously maimed, or being raped. There were only two copies of the reports made, one for the archives, and one sent straight to Dumbledore."

"What does that have to do with the Aurors?" Madam Faire asked.

"There were three types of Aurors that had that duty," Lucius explained. "There were those who worked there, sometimes for years, doing just what they were told to do. There were those that had to be Obliviated... but only after they found out who the child was. And there were those who had to be Obliviated almost immediately because they would not accept what they saw and that they weren't allowed to do anything about it. Those, with their memories returned, were the ones I brought with me to arrest Dumbledore."

"What happened to the others?" Aine's voice was harder than they'd heard so far.

"Either demoted or arrested," Lucius' voice was just as hard. "Unfortunately, a trial would probably exonerate them, since they were simply following their superior's orders. Fortunately, there are other options."

Aine's smile was every bit as bloodthirsty as his. Connor just gulped and tried his best to turn invisible.

"What has been done about those relatives of his?" Aine asked, now sure that Lucius would not have allowed them to go unpunished.

Lucius grinned and told her. Connor was quite pale by the time he was finished. Especially, when the Minister smiled over at him, eyes glittering with promise.

Part 27/?

Harry woke up once more. He frowned before even opening his eyes. He thought he'd felt his husband sleeping next to him, but the bed was empty. He sat up, rubbing his eyes then looking around frantically.

"What's the matter?" Draco asked worriedly.

"Bathroom! Where's the bathroom?" he asked in a tight voice.

As soon as he could tell in which direction the blurry arm was pointing, Harry was headed there. Draco grabbed the thermos of tea and Harry's glasses and headed after him.

"Are you feeling better?" Ehlana asked compassionately as he came back out after a quick shower and teeth cleaning.

"Much," Harry admitted. He frowned over at the bed once more. "How long was I asleep? I dreamt Lucius was sleeping with me."

"He was," Draco admitted. "You've been sleeping since yesterday afternoon. He got up about an hour ago."

Harry pouted, but only a little. He would have preferred to wake up next to Luc, but he was used to not getting what he wanted. He walked over to the wardrobe Aine had pointed out and opened it. The pout disappeared immediately as he looked at the wardrobe's offerings.

"That doesn't make any sense," Ehlana said, confused. "I've never seen one of the enchanted wardrobes get confused about whether a person was male or female. Maybe it's because you're pregnant? Don't worry, we can convince it to give you something else."

"Oh, no," Harry answered absently. "That's alright. This is just fine."

Ehlana looked at him strangely, but Draco just grinned.

Thirty minutes later, Ehlana walked out of the room, still looking confused.

"Is something the matter, Ehlana?" Aine asked softly.

"Well... no, I guess not," she answered. "It's just... Harry..."

"What about Harry?" Lucius asked darkly, getting to his feet to loom.

She just nodded back the way she'd come.

Before he could turn around he heard another voice.

"Who are ye?" Connor's voice was surprised.

Lucius spun around quickly, then stopped still. Finally, he smiled. "You look beautiful, Harry," he told him.

He did. The gown he was wearing was a shimmery, misty grey, puffed out a bit as if there were a single layer of petticoats underneath the skirt. The top did a good job at hinting at breasts that weren't there, while puffy, translucent sleeves were gathered together at the elbow and wrist. A pair of fairy wings would have looked completely at home, and Lucius was almost surprised to see that there were none. He did note that Harry hadn't been able to find makeup to go along with it, but his hair had been arranged so as to cover up the scar and his glasses were either absent or invisible. By the way he seemed to look at and catalog every person in the room, it was more likely the latter.

Harry smiled up at his lover, happy with the response he was getting. He'd been delighted upon seeing what the wardrobe had created for him. The dress was very close to the one Ehlana had been wearing when he'd first seen her and he still thought it was beautiful.

Lucius kissed Harry gently, then guided him towards a small loveseat where they could cuddle together.

"What does this be about?" Connor wondered, completely in the dark. The glare Lucius gave him caused him to melt back into his seat while he paled.

"That's what the wardrobe gave him," Ehlana told them. "I thought it was broken, but he seemed quite happy with it."

"You know," Aine offered carefully, "if this is your wish, it is possible to make it permanent, without harming your child."

It took a few moments before Harry understood what she was suggesting. He shook his head wildly. "No way. I don't want to be a girl!" He shuddered. "That really is a sickening thought, you know."

"Who forced ye to dress as a girl, then?" Connor daringly glared at Lucius, sure he had something to do with it.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Nobody *forced* me to dress like this. Unless you count the public that wouldn't bloody leave me alone! I like looking pretty, and I like the way I'm treated when I'm dressed up. However, I have absolutely no wish to lose my..." he stopped before he said more, realizing there were real females in the room. "Well, you know," he finished quietly, blushing. He looked hard at his Professor. "You've got to stop jumping to conclusions, without first getting all the facts. At least, I'm assuming that's what this was all about. Why don't you tell me, what did start all this?"

Connor turned to look at Aine, before Harry's voice cut through the air. "That *wasn't* a request."

He turned slowly around to look at the boy. Looking into his eyes, he didn't see a boy, nor even a girl. He realized that in front of him was a man who had seen far more than he should, fought far more than he should, and was inherently capable of anything that he would try to do. A man that wanted answers, and would get them... in whatever way necessary. In that moment, he realized he was just as dangerous as his husband. Connor nodded his head and sat down.

"Where would ye want me to start?"

"Why did you come to Hogwarts?"

"Why meself in particular, or why a Tuatha de Danaan?" Connor asked, but went on before anyone could answer. "Never mind, the two go together. About three months ago, Overworld time, Headmaster Dumbledore did send a message to King Nuada. He said that there was a child in his school that he was worried about. He thought the child might be being abused, but didna' ha' proof. Knowing that our people are very... sympathetic to abused children, he asked if one of our kind could go to Hogwarts and be finding out for sure. As well as do something about it, if it be true. He didna' explain who it was until after I got there."

"Why was someone sent on that little information?" Harry asked.

"Because Albus Dumbledore sent it." Connor's reply unfortunately made sense to everyone.

"Why you?" Draco asked.

"Several reasons. It was felt that a part-blood would be better than a full-blood, not only because I look more human, and would not cause talk, but also because of time and time sense." He noticed the humans looked confused. "I be sixty-three years old. To ye, that means I be an old man, to they," he nodded towards Aine, "I'm still just a child. In truth, I be in the middle, closer to young than to old. So, it was thought I could relate to the students better. There is also the fact that the true-bloods have little concept of the passage of time. Not only does time pass differently here than it does in the outer world, but when ye be alive for close to forever, the passage of days means little. They think nothing of taking months or even years to do something. They know they have the time. In this case, there wasna' that time. Something had to be done quickly, and they be not the best ones to do that.

"Also, there would be a lot of the same problems as a pureblood wizard living full-time in the muggle world would be having. It's just so different from what they know. However, me mother was an Irish witch, and she made sure that I be every bit as familiar and comfortable in the wizarding world as I was in Underhill. Few others had that upbringing. In most cases, it is felt best that the child be raised completely Underhill, and since they usually stay here all their life, there be nothing wrong with that. But since I was raised in both, I was capable of living and interacting in Hogwarts, which few others would be."

"Well, that explains why you were chosen," Harry admitted. "Now, why did you think I was being hurt? What in the world gave you that impression?"

"Albus Dumbledore told me of his worries about ye and yer new relationship with Professor Snape," Connor explained. "So I attempted to get to know ye. That was deflected almost immediately by yer own refusal to have anything to do with me. Not to mention yer father's threats if I got too close. I was stuck with watching. And what I saw, in the attitude I was watching it in, was worrying. First, ye were skipping meals and occasionally falling asleep, in me class, and others also from what I heard. Ye dropped yer practicals in me class, as well as dueling and Quidditch! Then ye started avoiding people. Ye stopped sleeping in yer dorm. Ye did be snappish for a couple o' days," he saw but ignored, for now, the boy's blush at that, "then ye came to me class with a black eye and said ye ran into a door! A door, for Lugh's sake! Even I know that be the most common excuse for getting hit!"

"I was snappish because 'he'" Harry nodded towards the man sitting next to him, "was being a git."

"In other words, he was withholding sex," Draco commented in a stage whisper.

Harry glared at his friend before continuing to talk. "As for the bruise, I *did* run into a door! I woke up with my bladder screaming and didn't bother grabbing my glasses before I ran for it. I was expecting it to be open, but it wasn't quite all the way, and I ran straight into it. As for the other things, they all had to do with my being pregnant and finding out I was pregnant." Harry explained.

"That'd be what happened next," Connor admitted. "The newspaper ran an article about ye being pregnant and suggested *very strongly* that Professor Snape did give ye a potion that would cause the rebirth of Voldemort."

"What!" Harry shrieked.

Lucius flinched back slightly. He was sitting much too closely for a scream that loud to be comfortable. "Don't worry, Harry, I took care of it. Though I must admit that by the time we return, practically the whole wizarding world will probably know about us."

"What? They know? Damn it!" He shot to his feet and started to pace, his arms flying around. "I didn't want anyone to know yet! I'm not ready to lose Jade! And what the Hell were those people thinking? I can't believe someone would actually believe that crap! Much less write it in the first place! What were they thinking! And how did they find out? When I find the person who let it out, I am so going to curse their arse!" He growled out the promise before turning to glare at Lucius. "And how could you tell without talking to me about it first? What if I didn't want it getting around, huh?" He turned around and slammed out of the room.

Lucius followed after him, leaving Draco looking completely confused.

"Mood swing," Aine told him comfortably. "He'll be fine."

"Your father might not be, though," Madam Faire chuckled.

Part 28/?

Lucius walked quickly through the door after Harry. He looked around, but couldn't find him. He considered using magic to find him, but finally decided against it. Instead, he stood there for a moment, thinking of what he knew about Harry. He knew that if Harry were truly upset, he'd head for either one of two types of places: somewhere small and dark, or somewhere with a lot of growing things, preferably where he could see the sky.

He doubted Harry would take the small and dark route. Not when he was angry. Hurt or scared yes, but not angry. That decided, without hesitation, he headed for the front door. He was unsurprised to find it was not closed all the way. He opened the door and walked out. He looked around carefully, then frowned and strode quickly towards the heap of gray silk puddled on the ground.

"Harry?" he asked softly, as he dropped next to the beautiful boy.

Harry turned to look at him and then threw himself into Lucius' arms, crying. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to yell at you! I didn't mean it! Please don't be mad at me!"

"Shh," Lucius murmured, petting his back. "It's okay. I'm not mad. But I didn't take Jade away from you. No one will figure out that she and you are the same person."

"But I won't be able to go out with you anymore," he muttered unhappily from where his head was buried in Lucius' shoulder. "We can't go dancing, or to a ball, or shopping, or anything."

"Of course you can. Yes, it might be better if Jade isn't seen with me, but you can go out with me as Harry. Wouldn't you like to dance with me as a boy?"

"But there would be people," Harry whined.

"So there would. But you would be with me. And I would keep you safe. You know that." Lucius said gently.

"Yeah," Harry pouted even though it couldn't be seen, his face still buried in Lucius' neck. "But it wouldn't be the same."

Suddenly Harry pulled back and glared at him. "What do you mean you took care of it and everyone knows? What did you do?"

Lucius silently prayed for patience. He'd heard all about mood-swings and hormones, but from anger to crying to whiny and back to anger in five minutes? That was a little much, wasn't it? Maybe something about Underhill was making it worse; perhaps his low power levels had something to do with it? He quickly checked Harry over. He was a little empty. Lucius quickly pushed more power into him, pushing calm along with it, and hoped that would help. If not, he wasn't sure how he was going to survive the next eight months. He didn't think his previous practice, of staying away as much as possible, would work in this case. After all, he still remembered what had happened last time he'd made the mistake of ignoring Harry. He didn't think he'd get off that lightly again.

"Well?" Harry demanded when the silence went on too long.

"Draco called me and told me you'd been taken. I had already been to the Daily Prophet after seeing the morning paper. I *convinced* the editors that they did not wish to print anything else about you without my express permission. When I received Draco's mirror call, I gathered some Aurors I trusted, as well as Salazar's picture, and we headed to Hogwarts. There, I demanded to know where my husband was, relieved Dumbledore of his duties, and ordered him arrested."

Harry blinked. He had a dozen questions, but the one that popped out was "Why did you need Salazar's picture?" His eyes suddenly widened as he realized. "Flick! Where's Flick? Is she okay? What did he do to her?"

"She seemed to be fine, but was still unconscious when I left. Salazar was useful in another, unexpected way, though." Lucius continued but Harry didn't seem to be hearing.

He jumped to his feet and rushed to the door, after brushing off his skirts of course. Lucius followed, wondering what he was up to now.

Harry strode into the room and right up to Connor. "What did you do to my Flick?" he hissed.

"His Flick?" Ehlana whispered to Draco. "Does he mean his... you know? What could Connor have done to that?"

Draco looked at her in surprise before chuckling. "No, it's nothing like that."

"Your Flick?" Connor was just as confused as the golden-haired girl.

"Yes, my Flick. You know, my bonded Alaspinian minidrag? Lucius said she was still unconscious when he left! What did you do to her, and why didn't you fix it while you were there?" he growled.

"She was dangerous!" Connor complained.

"Yeah, to you! Not to me!" Harry waved his hand.

Connor suddenly found himself pinned to the wall like a bug to cardboard in an entomologist's collection.

"How dare you touch her?" he growled, stalking towards him. "She never did anything to you!"

Lucius and Draco could feel him gearing up for something magical. Madam Faire might not be able to feel it as the mages could, but she didn't reach her age by not being able to read body language. "That's quite enough, young man," she said tartly. "You will not broil him alive, or whatever you were planning. You don't have the magic to spare right now. Besides, I do believe your husband has already had a *talk* with him."

Harry looked from his DADA Professor to his husband. "Did you?"

"I believe he understands exactly what I think of what he did," Lucius admitted, his eyes glittering darkly.

Connor shuddered, not seeming to know whom he should watch. Which one was more dangerous?

"But did you get revenge for Flick?" Harry asked plaintively.

"I admit, I didn't think about it, but I do think he got the idea."

"But... Flick's delicate," Harry complained.

Draco blinked. "Um, Harry? She's an Alaspinian minidrag. I don't think I would consider her fragile."

"Of course she is," Harry disagreed. "You do realize she's mated, right?"

"Well, yeah," Draco conceded. "Considering Spitfire is living with Severus, it'd be a little hard to miss."

"And you do know that Alaspinian minidrags only mate when the female is in heat, right?"

"You have a pregnant Alaspinian minidrag?" Ehlana squealed, being the first to understand. "Oh, those babies are going to be *so* cute!"

Harry turned to grin at her. "Aren't they? I can't wait! I don't know how long it's going to be, I haven't really talked to her about it, but she herself told me that they only mated for nestlings. Luckily, there's a whole nest at the Manor, so she'll have plenty of babysitters. I think I remember reading they have communal child-rearing."

Lucius blanched slightly and turned to the goddess Aine. "Please, tell me that minidrags don't have mood swings," he begged.

Aine just laughed.


	9. Chapter 30 and 32 skipping 29 and 31

Okay, Okay, I know some of you are going to be annoyed. And some of you are just going to be confused. I took out Chapter 29 and 31 completely. There's two main reasons for this, number one, they're basically all sex (a bit kinky too) and number two... well, they really didn't fit. Those two chapters have always felt like just gratuitous sex scenes to me and honestly, there was no real reason for them. Sorry if that annoys anyone. Also sorry for this being extremely short with those two chapters missing, but there's really not a good stopping place for another five chapters, and that would be a bit much I think.

Part 30/?

Back at Hogwarts, Severus Snape watched as the Aurors led the ex-Headmaster out of the school. There was no way he wanted that man in the same room with him. Lucius might not have considered how long he'd been in the man's power, but he certainly had, and the best way to keep the old man from using any buried compulsions on him was to get him away. There were also some worries about the other teachers. At this point, he didn't trust Dumbledore not to have compulsions buried in their psyches as well.

The Deputy Headmistress, Minerva McGonagall, was currently very unhappy with her old boss, but she'd trusted Dumbledore and had worked with him for a long time. There was no telling when that loyalty would kick back in if he stayed here.

Severus wished he wasn't thinking that way. He'd trusted Dumbledore for many years, himself. No longer though. Years before, he'd lost his trust that Dumbledore was doing what was best for the world. Still, he'd not lost all of his loyalty until he'd realized what the older man was doing to a young boy who'd never asked for his fame and all that came with it.

He considered Harry. That boy had never wanted to be the world's savior. All he'd ever wanted was a family and friends that cared for him. And now he had it. And Severus would do everything in his power to make sure that the boy who was now his son never lost that.

He looked around the room. There were a number of little cliques spread all across the room. The most worrisome however, was the one at the Slytherin table and led by Parkinson. He slinked stealthily towards them and managed to listen for several minutes before anyone noticed him.

"Look," Pansy was saying. "I think it's obvious by now that there's something more going on than we've been told. I mean, Snape adopting Potter and Mr. Malfoy *marrying* him? You can't think that it's anything but a plot! I don't think they're trying to resurrect the Dark Lord, I think one of them is working on becoming the next one. And I, for one, am not going to get in their way. I'd far rather be seen to be on their side than as an obstacle to be removed. They got rid of You-Know-Who, they got rid of Fudge, and now they got rid of Dumbledore. There's no one left to oppose them. They've won, and they didn't even have to kill a lot of people to do so. You've got to admire their planning."

By that time, one of the younger Slytherins had seen their Head of House standing, listening to everything that was being said, with an enigmatic look upon his face. He quickly poked at the older girl, nodding towards Snape as she turned on the younger boy in a fury. Her face whitened. "P... Professor Snape!" she gulped.

"An interesting theory, Miss Parkinson," Severus murmured, before moving on.

It was an interesting theory. He had been expecting someone to come up with it, and was moderately surprised that it was Parkinson that had done so. Still, she had been surprising him all day. Perhaps now that she wasn't so focused on trying to catch the younger Malfoy, she would finally start using that brain he was sure she had. Both her parents and her older sister had shown themselves to be knowledgeable, shrewd and cunning; qualities that she, so far, had not shown.

He walked over to where Professor McGonagall, Madam Pomfrey and Madam Sprout were all gathered together. The professors were obviously comforting the medi-witch. As soon as she saw him, Madam Pomfrey started wailing. "I'm sorry! That poor boy! He was so scared. I didn't want to scare him like that but I simply couldn't fight it off."

"You fought enough," Snape admitted grudgingly. He didn't want to seem comforting; it wasn't in his job description or his personality.

She shook her head. "If I'd done as I was supposed to, he would have been out of that house years ago. Did you think I didn't know? But whenever I brought it up to Dumbledore, he always had such... reasonable justifications for not taking him away. He said he'd make sure it didn't happen any more. And Harry never looked as bad after that first year, but I knew there was something..."

"Actually, I believe he'd found concealment charms after the first year, and would use them religiously on the train to school and afterwards. He continued their use at school at least until he ate enough that he was more than skin and bones." At least Severus could be sure his reputation was intact, because that wasn't comforting to the woman at all. "What I've always wondered," Severus continued, "is why his Head of House never noticed." He walked off before anything more could be said.

His next destination was probably one of the strangest groupings currently in the room: a half-giant, two Alaspinian minidrags, a portrait, a Ravenclaw, a Slytherin and a Gryffindor. He walked over and almost sighed in relief as one of the minidrags flew over to him and settled on his shoulder. He couldn't believe how much he'd missed Spitfire's comforting weight. He might not be bonded to the snake, but he still enjoyed his company. He frowned when he realized why Hagrid was there. Flick was still unconscious.

"Is she okay?" he asked the group.

"Did you know she was pregnant?" Granger asked him, even as she looked through a book. He noticed that both Blaise and Blankenship were doing the same thing. He suddenly realized what she had asked.

"She? As in Flick?" he asked, shocked.

"We should have realized as soon as Harry introduced Spitfire. Minidrags only mate when they're in heat, and they're only in heat when they're ready to have minidragonlings."

"I assumed they mated for life," Severus probed.

"Oh, they do," Blankenship agreed immediately. "But their first mating happens when they're in heat, and Flick wouldn't have bonded with Potter... sorry, Snape, if she was mated already."

Severus closed his eyes. "When, and how many?" he asked in a resigned voice.

"About seven months and between four and eight," Blaise told him.

Severus decided not to think about it. Obviously, there were people around who were capable and willing to research and find out everything they needed to know about minidrag births. He'd let them do the work. "Is she alright?"

"Ah, the li'le un'll be fine," Hagrid rumbled comfortingly. "She just needs to sleep it off."

"True," Salazar put in his own thoughts. "However, if Harry has not returned by the time she wakes up, she's going to be *extremely* unhappy."

Severus nodded understandingly. "Just keep her as calm as you can."

He walked off, shaking his head and muttering under his breath, not caring that he was scaring most of his students. After all, he normally did that anyway.

He spent the next hour in the same way, reassuring, or not, as the mood took him. The only ones that were safe from his wrath and annoyance with Lucius were certain students that Connor might have recognized. O'Feahr wasn't the only one that kept his eye upon the abused. The only reason he hadn't known about Harry before that day in Fifth Year, was his own willful blindness. He'd kicked himself for a long time about not seeing the signs.

He suddenly drew himself up to his full height as he saw something across the Hall. Spitfire rose off his shoulder as he picked up his person's agitation. Several of the more nervous students cried out at the sight, but Severus ignored them all as he strode quickly towards the newcomers.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked with a hiss.

The Aurors looked at him, with a slightly confused expression on their faces.

Severus scowled. "What did you do with Dumbledore?"

"Dumbledore?" one of them said. "He said it was a mistake, so we let him go."

"You... let... him... go...?" Severus bit out. He wanted to yell, scream, to curse them all! If it weren't for the almost dazed look in the Aurors' eyes, he wouldn't have hesitated; instead, he was mad at himself. He should have considered the fact that the bracelets wouldn't be enough, should have found something else to augment the magical blocking, should have realized that the old man would have more tricks up his sleeve than they could ever imagine.

Now he was free, and out there, and they had no idea where.

There was only one bright spot about all this in Severus' mind. He could blame it all on Lucius.

Chapter 32/?

"You might want to get changed, dear," Aine suggested. "King Nuada should be here soon, and I don't believe you want to explain this to him."

Harry sighed and nodded. The gowns the wardrobe had come up with were surprisingly comfortable, light, airy and not at all constricting. Still, she was correct, it was not the impression he wanted to give to the King of all the Tuatha de Danaan.

Ehlana shook her head as he walked back out some thirty minutes later. She still had a hard time believing he could so easily go from beautiful girl to handsome boy. He was dressed in black dress slacks, a shimmery shirt that was sometimes blue and sometimes green, but hugged his masculine chest nicely. His hair was pulled back into a simple ponytail and his glasses emphasized both his green eyes and the scar on his forehead.

He settled back onto the couch next to Lucius and snuggled in. Aine had started a conversation with Connor and Lucius while he'd been gone, and was able to watch the couple without seeming to. She was happy to find absolutely no difference in how Harry was treated by his husband, no matter how he was dressed.

A hard knock came at the front door. Ehlana got up quickly, straightened her dress and checked her appearance before heading to the front door. She opened it and dropped into a deep curtsy.

"Welcome to our house," she intoned. She led the way into the living room, where everyone was waiting. Following her, were almost a dozen warriors garbed in armor and wearing swords. There was no doubt that they knew how to use them.

In the midst of the phalanx of bodyguards, was one who fit perfectly the description 'warrior king'. He was tall, muscular, and dressed in rich robes that wouldn't interfere if it became necessary to fight. His hair was long and only beginning to silver. For all that he was many times Dumbledore's age, he looked like a man just entering his seniority.

The visitors from the Overworld had risen to their feet as King Nuada Silverhand entered the room. Harry couldn't keep himself from dropping his eyes to the Sidhe Lord's hands, but both of them were normal. He felt really stupid. He did know the story of how he got his hand back after the years of wearing one made of silver. It made him very glad that Aine, the healing goddess, was taking care of him, rather than Dian Cecht. He didn't think he'd get along with that particular god of healing.

"Welcome to my home," Aine murmured as she curtsied. Madam Faire followed suit. Connor bowed deeply. Lucius, Draco and Harry however, only bent their heads. Malfoys didn't bow to anyone.

Nuada stepped out from behind his bodyguards and looked at Harry. "Will you introduce yourself and your friends?" he asked. His voice was deep and rumbling, but kind.

"I'm Harry Snape," Harry answered easily. "This is my husband, Lucius Malfoy and his son, my best friend, Draco Malfoy. That," he nodded towards Madam Faire, "is my doctor, Madam Lillith Faire."

Nuada nodded to the others, but his attention never left the black-haired boy in front of him. "I was under the impression that your name was Potter."

"It was," Harry said easily. "I was adopted by my father figure, the Potions Professor at our school, Severus Snape."

Nuada shot a glance at the redheaded half-breed. "The one that was abusing you?" he stated as much as asked.

Harry's eyes narrowed and he glared dangerously. "Severus has *never* laid a hand on me. When I get my hands on Dumbledore for starting that rumor..." he growled, leaving the threat open ended. Those who knew him knew he was not likely to be dissuaded. "Of course, I have a number of things to talk to him about."

"Dumbledore?" Nuada murmured as he settled gracefully onto the most comfortable chair in the room. Everyone else set down as well.

"Yes," Harry hissed. "That manipulative, supercilious bastard who's managed to convince everyone that he's working for the good of the world. Yeah, right. The only one he's worried about is himself."

"A little harsh there, are you not?" the king asked kindly.

"No, he is not," Madam Faire spoke up acerbically. "*That man* tried to compel a mediwitch to abort Harry's child! And when that didn't work, he manipulated your man over there, into bringing Harry here! He had to know what being Underhill would do to a pregnant mage. If he'd been here for a week without the support of other mages and that Orb thingy they brought with them, Harry and the child he bears would both be dead."

Nuada's visage darkened, his brows drew down and his posture straightened. "Are you trying to tell me that Albus Dumbledore used *my representative* to bring harm not only to a child, but to that child's unborn child?"

"That's exactly what she's saying," Lucius answered.

"What proof of this do you have?"

"Do you honestly believe that Dumbledore did not know what would happen to Harry here?" Lucius asked him.

"From all I have heard of the man..." Nuada said slowly. "I do have a problem believing that."

"Then why don't you ask O'Feahr *why* he felt the need to bring Harry to your realm," Lucius suggested.

Nuada glanced at Connor, who was doing his best to disappear into the chair on which he was sitting. "Well?" he asked impatiently.

Connor nodded slowly. "The Headmaster was the one who planted the idea in my mind that Harry was being abused by Professor Snape. Looking back, I doubt I would have looked twice at him without that prompting. His behavior was a little erratic, but he's also a teenager. I probably would have put it down as that on my own. However, he most certainly has been abused. I did the injury spell before bringing him here. After seeing the number of injuries he has had, I felt it best to bring him in."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes, I've got a whole lot of injuries," he admitted. "A whole lot more than can be adequately explained by quidditch or Voldemort. So of course, he thought it could all be explained as my being abused by someone who had been my guardian for an entire month."

Connor's face almost matched his hair. Put that way...

Nuada smiled tightly. "What is being done about Dumbledore?" he asked.

"I placed him under arrest before coming here," the Minister told him.

Nuada turned to one of the warriors that had come in with him. "Would you care to tell the Minister what you told me?" he ordered.

The warrior bowed slightly. "Word has come from the Overworld, that the one called Albus Dumbledore escaped from custody only hours after being arrested."

"What?" Lucius roared, shooting to his feet. "Severus would never have let him go!"

"You left dad in charge of him?" Harry asked in disbelief. "Come on Lucius, Severus has been under his sphere of influence for years! How do you know that Dumbledore didn't have other compulsions buried in his mind? Or what about the other teachers? Heck, even the students!"

"I must agree with your young husband," Nuada said, as one ruler of his land to another. "It was your responsibility as Minister of Magic to make sure he remained under your control. It was not a job I would have expected you to leave to another."

Draco spoke up. "I agree with you," he said, "and yet I don't. He left someone he trusted in charge, another very powerful mage, so he could take care of his husband. Severus might not have been the best choice for that job, but this was for his family. Which would you choose?"

Nuada smiled at the blonde-haired boy. "That is a good question," was the only answer he would give.

"Did anyone get hurt when he escaped?" Harry asked worriedly.

"No such word has come," the warrior responded.

"Dumbledore was wearing manacles that would stop him from using his magic," Lucius explained. "This shouldn't have been possible."

"Some of my people will be going with you. Dumbledore has lost our faith by his actions. He has a treasure of ours that we will now need to retrieve. We also have our own ax to grind with the man. I do not approve of my people being used in such a manner."

"Will Professor O'Feahr be returning?" Draco asked with interest. After all, he still had revenge to wreak against the man, and he knew Severus had his own plans.

"Do you wish him to?" Nuada asked in surprise.

"He's one of the best DADA Professors we've had," Draco admitted. He grinned like a shark at the professor when he was sure no one else was looking.

Nuada looked at his suddenly pale underling. "Perhaps that would be a good idea," he agreed. He turned back to the Minister. "If necessary, we have several places Underhill where we could place Dumbledore, once you have caught him. He would not be able to use much magic here, and we Children of Danu are highly resistant to compulsion magics."

"I will take that under consideration," Lucius bowed his head just slightly in gratitude to the King of the Sidhe.

"When can we go home?" Harry asked.

Nuada considered. "We have more to discuss, but I see no reason you couldn't return to your home tomorrow."

Harry nodded his agreement.


	10. Chapter 33, 34, 35 and 36

Part 33/?

Harry sighed and then turned to glare at his oblivious father. He was beyond frustrated, and not even sexual frustration. Well okay, there was an aspect of that in there too, but it had long since taken a back seat to his descent into complete annoyance, and he was heading straight into anger.

They'd arrived back home five days or five hours after they left, depending on the time you had lived through. Harry had been happy to see his father and friends. He'd been worried about Dumbledore's disappearance and alarmed by the explanation those left behind had come up with: that it was possible Dumbledore had placed compulsions upon *every* graduating student of Hogwarts for the entire time he'd been Headmaster. Or at least the past fifteen years. It hadn't been thoroughly proved at this point, but the evidence was pointing that way. It was known that Dumbledore had a private conversation in his office with every student before they graduated.

Ehlana had come with them. Aine had decided that she needed more exposure to the outside world. Of course, the fact that she and Draco seemed to be getting along well, and that Aine was still determined to marry her foster daughter off early, had nothing to do with it. She had been sorted into Hufflepuff, but even that hadn't turned Draco off.

Connor was also back. He'd settled back into his spot as DADA teacher with no outward problems. However, he seemed to have become slightly clumsy, especially when it would embarrass him in public. The fact that the Gryffindor and Slytherin Houses seemed to have declared a prank war in his class, and only in his class, a prank war he always seemed to *accidentally* get in the middle of, might have something to do with why he was currently turning a bit paranoid.

Harry was actually waiting for Connor to snap. He had the feeling the Houses were going to be sorry when that happened. They seemed to be forgetting that their Professor was a fully capable wizard of a type different than their own. He had the feeling they'd find a new meaning for Practicals when he finally had enough.

Considering how carefully O'Feahr was treating him, he didn't expect he'd be getting caught in the middle of the conflict; also he was not an active participant, only an observer, so he was planning on just sitting back and enjoying the entertainment.

Madam Faire had settled in easily as a second medi-witch and school nurse. From all reports, Madam Pomfrey was happily sharing her Infirmary. Harry wouldn't know of course. He wasn't allowed anywhere near the woman or her rooms. Madam Faire now had a room set up down in the dungeons instead of the Chamber, and that's where Harry's examinations were taking place. At least she didn't believe that chocolate would heal all ills. Not that Harry had a big problem with chocolate, but he really didn't appreciate it as much as his friends seemed to think he should. Once he'd gotten over the whole 'I can have it whenever I want' syndrome, he'd found that too much of it was just too much. Too many years of no sweets had left him with only a small sweet tooth in most circumstances.

Professor McGonagall was currently Headmistress of the school, with Severus as Deputy Headmaster. It wasn't a job he particularly wanted, but he didn't completely trust the Transfiguration Professor to be impartial, especially to his Slytherins. It was worth the extra aggravation to make sure his students got what they deserved.

Several warriors from Nuada's ranks had entered the Overworld and were spending much of their time tracking down Dumbledore. A number of Aurors were doing the same thing. Personally, Harry didn't think any of them had a good chance of finding the ex-Headmaster. The warriors were too hampered by not knowing much about the outside world, and were having trouble navigating around. The Aurors either had a hard time believing Dumbledore's guilt, or were suspect because they had gone to school at Hogwarts during his reign. Some, of course, were both.

There had been no reported sighting of the man since he'd disappeared, something that worried everyone in the know. Approved articles had appeared in the papers soon after Harry had returned. The reaction was decidedly mixed. It turned out that the Minister of Magic didn't have the authority to fire the Headmaster, even if he was under arrest. Thankfully, Salazar had been around. The portrait had been far more helpful than anybody could possibly have imagined.

It turned out that Rowena Ravenclaw's spirit portrait was in the secret room Blaise and Roan had found. They had pulled her out and she was currently hanging in the Ravenclaw common room. From all accounts, she was greatly enjoying the company. Harry had managed to talk to her for a bit after Salazar had brought her by. He found her to be a charming woman who was just a *trifle* ... absentminded. It wasn't that she was flighty... she just always had other things to think about. She was much different than the far more two-dimensional copies of her that had been around the school previously. Once she'd been brought up to speed on what had been going on, she and Salazar, as two of the Founders of the school, were able to suspend Dumbledore and revoke his invitation into the school. He'd have a hard time getting through the wards now... assuming, of course, that he hadn't done something to them.

They still hadn't found any reason for the way Dumbledore was acting. Unfortunately, he hadn't left out any incriminating evidence. There were no journals where he'd written all of his thoughts. Nor was his Pensieve out where it could easily be found.

None of these however, had much to do with Harry's state of mind at that moment. Instead, it had everything to do with what had happened *after* they'd gotten out of the public eye. Severus and Lucius had had a fight. It hadn't been a surprise; everyone who knew the two of them had been expecting it. Hexes and insults had flown hard and fast between the two of them. Harry had tried to interfere and mediate between them, but had been shouted down. Finally, he threw up his hands and went to talk to Blaise's newest interest. He later came to regret that decision.

He didn't know what had happened between the two of them after he had left. All he was sure of was the fact that they currently weren't talking to each other, except in the utmost formality. The worst however, was that they were using him against each other. Both of them seemed to be spending a good amount of time trying to get him to choose between them. Any time he had to spend with one of them would be quickly interrupted by the other, with something that absolutely had to be taken care of immediately. He hadn't managed more than twenty minutes of uninterrupted time with either or them in the past two weeks, and even when he did, they always seemed to have something they had to do while he was with them.

On top of that, it seemed as if he was permanently restricted in where he was allowed to go. He understood, sort of, why he wasn't allowed to go to Hogsmeade on the student weekends, but it was getting to the point that he was expected to be in either Severus' rooms or the Chamber at any time he wasn't in class. If he decided to hang out with one of his friends, he'd either be interrogated both before and after, or Severus would actually go to get him. He wasn't even supposed to go outside of the castle itself. After all, now that he couldn't fly, he had no reason to be out in the sun and fresh air, right?

Harry had managed to keep his temper so far, but he wasn't going to be able to do it for much longer. He was about ready to pull out his hair. He knew things were about to get worse. He'd received another death threat. If he didn't tell his father about it, and Severus found out, he'd be grounded. Not that there was much difference between the two at the moment. If he did tell... what the heck would be the difference? Oh yeah, if he didn't tell, he'd have to write one of those reports. That answered that. It was bad enough he was already under what was pretty much house arrest; having one of those reports on top of that would be worse.

"Dad?" he sighed.

"What is it, Harry? I'm busy!" Severus snapped.

Harry's head reeled back. He hadn't expected that. His eyes narrowed. He'd been good for long enough.

"You're busy?" he hissed, stalking forward. "I know you're busy. You've been working non-stop for two weeks. The only time you aren't busy is when you're trying to make sure I don't have any time with my husband. That's okay, though, because he's doing the exact same thing! I don't know what you two said to each other. The only thing I do know is that I'm sick and tired of being in the middle! I've been good. I've been patient! I've swallowed everything I've wanted to say. I figured you two were adults and could deal with whatever the problem was between yourselves. Obviously, I was wrong. You're being more immature than I believed possible. I am not a prize to be grabbed away from each other.

Okay, you're mad at Lucius for leaving you behind. Why are you taking it out on me? He's mad at you for letting Dumbledore go. Guess what, he's taking it out on me too!"

Severus was looking at him with a blank expression.

Harry threw up his hands and muttered under his breath. He threw down the death threat he had received. "Here," he snapped. "This is what I interrupted your *important* work for." He slammed out the door before Severus could respond.

Severus rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Mood swings," he sighed, turning back to his work. It was several hours before he remembered the letter Harry had slammed down.

Harry headed out the front doors as fast as he could. He needed some fresh air. He was practically smothering from overprotective family and friends.

The only thing good about his being kept in his rooms was that not many people had had the chance to talk to him. It seemed as if only moments after he exited the front doors and settled down on a grassy spot near the lake, that he was practically inundated by students with questions.

It was several hours later before he was able to escape back into the school.

He'd had enough. He wanted to find somewhere no one else could bother him. He didn't want to leave the castle; as much as he'd like to get away, and as annoyed with his father and husband as he was, he still didn't want to worry them by leaving. He could have gone to the Manor, but there was a chance Lucius would be there, and right now he wanted nothing to do with him. He headed over to a spot where Salazar and Rowena seemed to gather often. Sure enough, there they were.

"Hello Salazar, Madam Ravenclaw," he greeted them politely.

"Good afternoon, um... Harry, isn't it?" Ravenclaw answered.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, smiling.

"Is there something the matter?" Salazar asked.

Harry shrugged slightly, looking down.

"Obviously there is, Salazar," Rowena said comfortingly. "Tell us all about it, child."

Harry shook his head. "It's nothing and a lot of things all at the same time. I was really just hoping you'd know somewhere I could go to get away from everyone. I don't want to actually leave the castle, but I don't want anyone to be able to find me, either."

"I have just the thing," Salazar answered. "Haven't you wondered about Godric's secret rooms?"

Harry perked up. "Sure," he answered easily.

"Follow me," Salazar answered, heading off.

Part 34/?

Severus' eyes went wide. Carefully, he read and reread the paragraph in front of him. That was it! Finally! He carefully enunciated each syllable of the spell. Once finished, he sighed in relief. For two weeks he'd had to live with that accursed hex. He'd simply never had the time to research it with everything else he absolutely *had* to do. The hex had been absurdly simple. It made him feel a small pain, such as if a splinter was just under the skin. The main problem was that it moved periodically. He'd lived with it in his hands and feet, arms and chest. It had simply made him more irritable than usual. But he'd lived with pain for most of his life. For the past six hours, however, it had been stuck in his right eye and he'd finally decided enough was enough.

He looked around the room for his son and frowned when he didn't see him. Only then did he remember the confrontation earlier in the day. He winced. He knew he hadn't been fair to Harry for the past couple of weeks. His kidnapping had scared him and he'd reacted badly. He fully admitted, at least to himself, that he'd overreacted and he'd been pushing, and probably punishing the boy for no reason. It hadn't been Harry's fault. He knew that. But he'd start feeling anxious whenever he wasn't sure where Harry was and then he'd have to go find him.

He remembered what Harry had said about using him against Lucius. He frowned. He hadn't been doing that... had he? Only as he thought back over the last couple of weeks did he realize exactly how many times he'd interrupted the two of them. He wondered if Lucius was feeling the same way about letting Harry out of his sight, because Harry was right, the blonde had been doing the same thing. They weren't being fair to the pregnant young mage, and they'd have to do something about that.

He looked for whatever it was Harry had been trying to give him. Obviously it had been important to the boy. He found the letter, still in its envelope and frowned. Where had he seen an envelope like that before? He opened it quickly. His eyes narrowed as he read over the note inside. He'd almost forgotten the death threats Harry had been receiving. He hadn't received one since being back at Hogwarts and they'd both thought that whoever it was had given up now that Harry was a Snape.

Obviously they were wrong.

Severus shot to his feet and was headed towards his bedroom. He needed to know where Harry was, and he needed to know now.

A knock at the door had him turning towards it, but then he turned back to his room. Whoever it was could wait. Harry wouldn't knock, and no one else mattered right now. The door opened behind him and he spun with his wand in his hand.

"Severus," Lucius murmured, ignoring the wand pointed at him. "Is something the matter?"

Severus didn't answer. Instead, he scowled, replaced his wand and strode back to where he was going before he was interrupted.

Lucius strode after him.

Severus headed to his chest of drawers. This was where he left everything he kept with him while outside of his rooms. Including a certain piece of paper. He found it quickly and touched it with his wand. It was a tracer spell, anchored to Harry. As he watched, green letters spelled out 'Harry Snape - Hogwarts'. He sighed in relief.

"What's going on, Severus?" Lucius asked. "Is something wrong with Harry?"

"He's fine," Severus replied. "He's in the Chamber."

"No, he's not," Lucius answered, his eyes narrowed. "I just came from there." He held up his cane as proof.

Severus looked at it. It was the snake headed cane he'd carried for a while. The blonde had shown up with it almost a week ago, asking Harry to charm it so it could open the door to the Chamber. Severus absolutely did *not* want to know why Harry had blushed beet red upon seeing it. Nor did he wish to know why his friend had been smirking and leering at the time. He really, really didn't.

He looked back down at the tracer spell. The only times he had ever gotten that response, just the word 'Hogwarts', was when he was in the Chamber. "Did you look through all of the rooms?" he asked thoughtfully.

Lucius considered. "I did not," he admitted. "However, he is most certainly not in the apartment, nor the main Chamber. I do not think any of the other rooms are of interest to him."

"Perhaps not, but I would prefer to check," Severus settled his robes around him and swept out of the room. Lucius followed behind him.

"What brought on this sudden urgent desire?" Lucius asked as he moved up beside him.

Severus glared at him. "That accursed hex you used on me in our fight had moved to my eye. Today was the first day I had time to research a cure. I was... irritable. Harry tried to tell me he had received another threat, but I was not in the mood to listen. Once I finally found a cure and was able to look around without a burning pain every time I blinked, he was gone." His voice was venomous.

"Do *not* be blaming this on me," Lucius said in the same tone of voice. They reached the entryway to the Chamber and Lucius tapped it with his cane, causing the snakehead on the end to hiss out the order for the shadow snake to open the room.

They split up to quickly check through all the rooms. They hadn't moved more than a step or two when a house elf popped up in front of them. She looked up at them worriedly.

"Is Harry here?" Lucius asked.

Cattie shook her head. "Cattie hasn't seen Mistress Jade since Cattie made breakfast for Mistress Jade," she explained.

"Check again," Lucius answered. She blinked and disappeared. "She can look faster than we can," he explained.

Severus nodded and decided to take the conversation back up to where it had been. "Why shouldn't I have blamed it all on you?" he asked acidly.

"I was not the one to start that fight," Lucius growled back.

Severus snorted. "You were the one who threw your power around," he practically spat. "You are the Minister of Magic. You should have been the one who stayed here, where your responsibility was."

"I trusted you to take care of it," he argued in a hard voice.

"It wasn't my job," Severus replied heatedly. "I did the best I could. At least I realized that leaving him here, when there was no way to know how many compulsions he had placed on the staff, was a bad idea. Something you certainly didn't consider."

Cattie interrupted before they could begin the fight once more. "Mistress Jade is not within the Chamber," she announced.

"Where else could he be?" Lucius barked at Severus.

"Perhaps the Ravenclaw secret rooms," Severus suggested thoughtfully. He turned and swept out of the room without another word, Lucius on his heels.

He silently led the way up to the Ravenclaw dorms and used his teacher password to enter the rooms.

"Professor Snape!" a second Year squeaked.

Roan Blankenship moved forward from where he was studying in one corner of the room. He hoped his status as the boyfriend of the professor's son's friend would protect him at least slightly from the man's wrath. He did not look happy, at all. The fact that Harry's husband was following him did not lighten his mind at all. "May I help you?" he said as strongly as he could. He knew from things Blaise had said that neither man would respect someone who was too servile.

"Is Harry in the Ravenclaw rooms?" Severus asked.

Roan shook his head. "I haven't seen him, and I've been here all afternoon. There's no other way into the rooms except through this room. Unless he snuck in, I don't see how he could be here."

"He's not here, dears," a voice said from over them. They turned quickly, hands going to wands before they realized that it was not a threat, but instead a familiar portrait. "I believe Salazar was planning on taking him to see Godric's rooms." She turned back to the book she was reading.

"Why?" Severus bit out.

"Hmm?" she said distractedly. "Oh, the poor boy was getting overwhelmed by people asking questions and wanted to go somewhere where no one could bother him."

Lucius' eyes narrowed. "Did Dumbledore know where those rooms were?" he asked harshly.

She tilted her head thoughtfully. "I don't know, honestly. It wouldn't surprise me, though. Of all of us, Godric was the one who was least concerned with privacy, well, when it came to members of his House and the one most likely to think only good of the Headmasters of this school."

"Where are these rooms?" his tone was ice cold and carried a deadly threat.

"Off of Gryffindor tower, of course," she sighed and put down her book. "I suppose I'd better show you. I'll meet you in front of the entrance to the dorms." She walked off, muttering under her breath about always getting interrupted just when she was getting to the good parts as she moved off the frame.

This time, Lucius was the one striding quickly out the door with Severus behind him. They were also followed by a Seventh Year Ravenclaw, who both wanted to make sure Harry was alright, and find out where the Gryffindor hidden rooms were.

"Why are you suddenly so concerned?" Severus hissed out as they moved swiftly down the corridor, ignoring the student who had to run to keep up with their quick strides.

"If Dumbledore knows where Gryffindor's rooms are, what are the chances that those rooms have emblem portkeys, the same as the Slytherin rooms?" Lucius answered back sharply. "The wards don't react to things that happen within those rooms. We would have no way of knowing if Dumbledore was there, or if anything happened to Harry there. The Slytherin rooms are not a problem. We know for a fact that Dumbledore does not know where they are, and all of the emblem portkeys are accounted for. But, when it comes to Gryffindor's rooms, we have no way of knowing that."

Severus asked no more questions as they rushed through the corridors leading up to Gryffindor Tower.

Part 35/?

Lucius moved quickly towards the stairs leading to the Gryffindor dorms. He tried to keep his anger at his friend hidden. Why didn't the man just tell him the hex was still on? He would have taken it off days ago if he'd realized.

Of course, it wasn't as if the two of them had been talking much lately.

He refused to believe he'd made the wrong choice. He'd made the one that was right for him and his family. That was all a man could do. So what if Nuada had obviously considered it the wrong one. So what if Harry and Severus, even Draco, had questioned his decision. It was right. He wasn't going to argue any more about it. He had enough on his plate.

Admittedly, he hadn't bothered to tell anyone of the problems he was having. In fact, he'd gone out of his way to make sure those at Hogwarts had no knowledge of exactly how bad the reaction to things had been. When it came to Dumbledore, the wizarding world seemed divided. Half believed what had been written and were outraged at how they'd been duped and were demanding answers and that the old man be caught. As if he weren't already doing everything he could to capture the mage! The other half thought he was making it all up in order to get the politically hot Dumbledore out of his hair. And he was getting the grief from both sections.

Then of course, there was his marriage to Harry and the news of their child. Again, reactions were mixed, bad and worse. He believed he'd made it very clear what would happen to anyone bothering Harry. He was sure his young husband had no clue about how bad things were getting. He was having trouble getting the cooperation he needed, since everyone he met seemed to believe he was using Harry. Either that, or harming him. There were even howlers complaining about him having cheated on that nice girl he went to the ball with.

And every time he came to Hogwarts, hoping to have some time with Harry, Severus would come bursting in. He'd even found his snake headed cane, hoping Harry would take his challenge from their night Underhill and come stalking after him with a collar. However, even if his young husband had any such intention, Severus had kept interrupting them.

He reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was talking easily with Rowena. "Well?" he asked harshly, as they seemed to be gossiping.

"You can wait a moment, can't you? He'll still be there when we get there," Rowena explained. She obviously hadn't heard the conversation between he and Severus.

"No, I can't, and no, there's no such guarantee," Lucius hissed, eyes gleaming with malice. "Now lead us to him, or I'll stick you in a room where there's no books at all, and no one to talk to but gossipy old queens!"

Rowena blinked. "Fine, fine, there's no need to get nasty," she said hastily. "It's just down this corridor, here."

She moved from portrait to portrait before stopping across from a small alcove in which an urn was displayed. "Well?" she said, impatiently. "You were in such a hurry to get here; go on in."

"In where?" Severus asked, confused. But not so confused that he didn't immediately start looking into the alcove. He picked up the urn, and then he saw it. A small door, no bigger than a mouse hole. "And how, exactly, are we supposed to go through that?"

"Touch it with your wand, of course," Rowena suggested.

Both men did so, but it didn't seem to do anything.

"Oh, of course, you have to be Gryffindor," Rowena blushed lightly. "I had forgotten. Godric was always a bit of a ... well let's just say he was always a bit House-proud. Really, as if courage could take you very far without brains."

"I might not be a Gryffindor, but I am a teacher in this school as well as the Deputy Headmaster, and I expect the school to acknowledge that," Severus bit out, pouring power down his wand. Whether it was the magic or the words that did it was unknown, but suddenly the door expanded from seven inches, to seven feet.

There was no knob on the door; instead there were a number of carved pictures.

"He's in the library," Rowena explained. "Press the book."

Severus found the picture of the book and pressed it strongly. The door quickly opened. Lucius pushed his way past the professor and into the room. "Harry?" he called out immediately.

"I'm over here," Harry said. His face was down, looking at a parchment, so he didn't see the expressions of relief momentarily visible on the two older men's faces.

"What are you doing in here? Didn't it occur to you that Dumbledore might know about this place?" Severus asked, angry from the scare, now that he knew his son was safe.

"He did," Harry said softly. He looked up. "He left me a letter."

The older two men moved towards him immediately. Harry nodded over to an open book. "There's a prophecy in there about both me and the baby... I think. Dumbledore definitely thought so."

"Do you?" Lucius asked, not even bothering to look at the book.

Harry closed his eyes and thought. "I don't know." He suddenly looked resolved. "No," he said firmly. "I don't believe it. I don't care what Dumbledore says."

"What does he say?" Severus asked, sitting down across from his son, leaving Lucius the spot next to him.

All of them were completely ignoring the Ravenclaw student who had followed after them. He settled own in one corner, pulling the book they were talking about over to read.

Harry picked up the letter and started to read aloud to his family.

"'My dear boy,

'I know that things I have done or allowed to be done to you have made you think badly of me. I'm sorry that these things were necessary. I did what I believed to be best for the wizarding world. If you have found this room, than I am certain you also found the book I left out by this letter. It is a book of prophecies left here by Godric himself. You are in it.'

'Several people have suggested that I allowed you to stay in the situation you grew up in because I wished for you to turn evil, perhaps become the next Dark Lord. That is certainly not true. I allowed you to grow up there because it was necessary that you not know of the wizarding world that was your birthright. I had several trusted Aurors that watched over you, to make sure you were never seriously harmed.'"

Both Severus and Lucius had things they wanted to say after hearing that, but Harry shook his head at them. He continued reading.

"'I did not do all of this so that you could live to defeat Voldemort. I am sure that would have happened no matter how you grew up. You have too much of your father in you to allow injustice like that to continue. Instead, I wished to, among other things, steer you away from the path you are treading now. The path that will lead the entire world, wizarding and muggle, to destruction.'"

"And how is that?" Severus snorted.

Harry just took a deep breath and continued reading.

"'For one mage to be born and come into his power causes reverberations across all wizarding magic. The more mages that gather together, the worse it is. If I'd had any idea that both Lucius and Draco Malfoy were mages, I would have tried my best to separate them.'"

Lucius growled at the thought.

"'There is a reason that mages have not gathered together since the Founding. That much power, reverberating through the magic fields, disrupts the fields badly. This can, if it continues long enough, cause problems with the Earth itself. By allowing you to be raised in the muggle world, it kept us separated enough that our powers would not interact. It also, I must admit, kept you from using your power to its fullest extent while here at Hogwarts, which also helped keep our magic from interacting.'

'If it is so dangerous, just to have two mages in the same section of the country, can you imagine the consequences of having two living together? Even worse, are the proven ramifications of having two mages create a child. I tried to stop this prophecy from coming true. I failed. I tried to derail it before it could come to fruition. I failed in that as well.'

'I left the information here with you. Please, look it over. Understand it. And do what is best for not only the wizarding world, but also the world as a whole. It's up to you. I know you'll do the right thing. As much as it pains me to say it, the child must not be allowed to be born.'

"'Albus Dumbledore' et cetera and so on." Harry finished reading. He looked up into several utterly shocked faces.

Part 36/?

"Hogwash!"

Everyone's eyes jerked up to where Rowena Ravenclaw was glaring down at them. "What?" Harry asked.

"I said, 'Hogwash!'" she exclaimed again. "What utter and complete rubbish!"

"But..." Harry tried.

"Don't you believe a word of it, young man!" she ordered. "The four of us lived together for over half a century and not a single bad thing happened! Well, besides Salazar and Godric's arguments, of course. But I don't think anyone could consider them Earth-shattering."

"Well," Salazar said thoughtfully, "There was that one..."

"You, hush," she commanded. "I don't know whether that Dumbledore of yours believed this nonsense or not, but you aren't going to. Because that's all it is, nonsense!"

"But..." Roan put in diffidently. "According to this prophecy of Godric's..." He was interrupted as well.

"Prophecy? From Godric?" Salazar laughed. "Godric couldn't stand prophecies. Thought they were all... well to use Rowena's words, rubbish. He was a little too... stuck-up to believe in anything he couldn't see."

"Now, now, Godric was a good man," Rowena demurred.

"I never said he wasn't," Salazar said. "But he could also be a moralistic, sanctimonious, self-righteous prig."

"He was a knight," Rowena reprimanded.

"And all that iron he wore rotted out his brain," Salazar argued. He sighed and looked down at the only Gryffindor in the group. "He wasn't always that bad," he admitted. "He had all the virtues of a chivalric knight, but he also had all the problems. He tried to help everyone, and he did a lot of good. I'm not disputing that. But he refused to believe ill of anyone who was thought to be on the side of 'Good'. He got taken advantage of a lot, but could never see it. His world was very black and white."

"I mean, just think of his House! He honored courage above common sense! Courage can be a very self-defeating emotion if it isn't paired with common sense, or at least a very good sense of survival. He drove me so crazy sometimes. He could be extremely single-minded; especially once someone convinced him it was for the good of the wizarding world. I was always surprised he didn't die protecting some village from a rampaging dragon or something of the sort. That's the kind of person he was."

"Is his portrait here?" Severus asked, interested.

"Nope," Salazar admitted easily. "It's probably at Godric's Keep... which of course, is in Godric's Hollow."

Harry perked up. "That's where my parents died. Though, I think the whole place burned to the ground."

"Not likely," Salazar told him. "Godric's Keep had so many anti-fire, anti-age, anti-practically-anything-you-could-imagine charms on it, that I don't think there is or ever has been anything that can destroy it. But, it's also hidden. It's the only thing he had that he wouldn't share with anyone that wasn't family. I doubt anyone except he, his wife, and their children, had any idea where it was."

"To get back on track," Rowena said reprovingly. "Godric didn't hold with prophecies. He didn't even want there to be a Divination teacher at the school. Wherever *that* came from, it wasn't from him."

"What about what it says here, about when two mages have a child?" Roan asked.

"Well," Rowena said, thoughtfully. "It's very rare. Actually the only one I know about was before we were born, but as far as I know there were no problems with the birth." She smiled slightly. "I believe they named the boy Merlin. Of course, I don't know if there have been any since then."

By this time, Severus had taken over the book and begun reading it himself. He frowned. "I'm really not seeing anything here to say this is about Harry. Yes, it *could* be about him. Assuming of course, that it wasn't about someone five hundred years or so ago."

"So the assumptions that Dumbledore must have made, if he actually believed what was written in that letter, were that Godric left that here, that whoever wrote that prophecy actually had the Sight, and that it had to do with Harry," Lucius tried to get his thoughts together.

"Do you think he actually does believe it?" Harry asked.

Severus, Lucius and Harry all shared a look. "That's the question now, isn't it?" Lucius murmured.

Severus looked up at the spirit portraits. "Were there many collaborations between mages before you four gathered together?"

"Of course," Salazar said immediately. "Two or more mages could do *far* more than an equal number of wizards. If something really big were necessary, mages would come from all over Britain to work on it. It didn't happen often, since under most circumstances, one mage, or even a dozen wizards, could take care of the problem. What I don't understand is, why do you seem to be unsurprised that he would want to keep mages apart?"

"Because until Severus, Draco and I worked together to defeat Voldemort, that's what people thought," Harry explained. "Mages weren't supposed to work together, they were dangerous to each other. At least, that's what Draco said he was taught."

"It's what we were taught, as well," Lucius murmured.

"That makes little sense," Rowena remarked. "Mages are rare, yes, but there should still be at least a dozen, in Britain alone, at any one time."

"It's very hard to tell whether someone is a mage or not," Lucius reminded them. "It's entirely possible there are more mages around than we know, but there are only five known mages right now."

Rowena just shook her head. "Very strange," she muttered. "And I'd really like to know how this decree of non-cooperation on the part of mages came about."

"Obviously, sometime in the past thousand years, something, probably something completely stupid and having something to do with the Skeeter family, convinced everyone that mages should stay as far away from each other as possible," Harry considered.

"It wouldn't surprise me at all," Lucius admitted. He turned to Severus. "Read the prophecy. Maybe it will give us a hint of what Dumbledore is thinking."

Severus nodded and began to read.

"'When Darkness covers the land,

A Child of Light shall come forth

With Power borne in hand.

Away the Darkness shall fade

From the coming of the Light,

And will hide within the Shade.

The Darkness shall return

When the Hidden Light is free,

And set the World to burn.

Dark Defeated, once again no more

By the Child of the Light

All the World shall roar.

This warning must be heeded,

That when the Child has a child,

No more will some be needed.

When the World begins construction,

Then mage to mage combine to be

The symbol of Light's destruction.'"

"It does kind of sound like me," Harry said softly.

"I'm interested in that last line," Lucius admitted. "Is it the symbol of the destruction of the Light, or the destruction of the *symbol* of the Light? Because there were really two symbols of the Light before all this began. Harry... and Dumbledore."

"You think the whole thing might have been prophesying *Dumbledore's* being taken down?" Harry asked, surprised. Of course, he could see where his husband might get that idea. "So was he trying to keep himself safe, or what?"

"Unfortunately, at this point there's no way of knowing exactly what he was thinking," Severus reminded them. "He might have believed this to be prophesying the destruction of the Light, and was trying to save it. He might have thought it meant him, and was trying to save himself. He might not have believed any of it, and is just trying to manipulate us by making us think he isn't the unmitigated bastard we've believed him to be. Does it really matter? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Whether his intentions were good or not, doesn't really matter, because it's obvious where he's headed."

How could anyone argue with that?


	11. Chapter 37, 38 and 39

Christmas program at school tonight. That's why I'm late ^_^. Only one more day before Christmas break! Yay!

Part 37/?

Harry led the way out of Gryffindor's rooms. After everyone stepped through the door, he turned to look at it. His eyes took in all the pictures carved in relief upon the door. He wanted to check out the rest of the rooms the door led to. First, however, he obviously was going to have to have the conversation with the older men that he had been hoping wouldn't be necessary.

"Thanks for coming along, Roan," he said, smiling at the Seventh Year.

"No problem, Harry," he smiled back. "It's a lot more interesting than studying."

Harry put his hand to his chest in mock-shock. "A Ravenclaw who would rather explore than study? What is the world coming to?"

Roan and Rowena both laughed. They took their leave of the three men and headed off, talking about a book they had both read recently.

Salazar also took his leave, sensing that he would need to find someone else to talk with, preferably someone that wasn't about to get into a major argument. At least that was the vibe he was getting from the youngest of the three.

"Why don't we go to the Chamber," Harry suggested.

The older men shrugged and followed after him. They traded glances as they realized he was going to walk all that way in silence, and was carefully staying in front of them. They entered the Chamber and walked through to the apartments. As they'd expected, he hadn't said a word other than to open the door and tell Cattie that they didn't need anything.

"Sit down," he ordered, almost wearily.

They did as he asked.

He turned to look at them, still standing in the middle of the room. "I'd been hoping to avoid this conversation and had put it off for days, but I... have... had... ENOUGH!" He shouted the last word, but immediately got himself back under control.

He started pacing back and forth, but a moment later stopped abruptly in front of his father. "I thought we'd already dealt with this, but obviously not, or you two need a reminder. Number one, I am *not* a child!" He motioned to Severus. "I might be *your* child, and I always will be, but I am not *a* child that needs to be taken care of and have things hidden from me for my own good. I do not appreciate being treated like that. Number two, I know I am pregnant. I am very well aware of that fact. I, after all, am the one that still has morning sickness, tiredness, aching feet, mood swings and tend to cry at the drop of a pointed hat! I am not, however, fragile. And I no more appreciate being treated as if I were, than I like being treated like a child."

He ran his hand through his hair as he started pacing again, and finally he dropped into a chair. He raised his head and looked at them again for a long moment. "Dad, let's start with you. Which doesn't mean you get off free, Lucius, so I would get that smirk off your face right now." He hadn't even turned to look at his husband. He should have, he probably would have found the surprised expression on the blonde's face to be quite ludicrous. It did wipe the smirk off, though.

"Dad, you can't wrap me up in cotton wool and put me on the shelf. I'm not some delicate potion ingredient that the least little shake will cause to disintegrate. The problem with being wrapped in cotton wool, is that you can't breathe in there. I'm starting to suffocate. It's like being in a prison." He watched his father pale and immediately shook his head. "It is *nothing* like being at the Dursley's. I know you're doing it because you care. I don't know *why* you feel like you do, but I don't doubt for a moment that you care. I just can't deal with it anymore. Do you know, today was the first time in two weeks I've been able to go out and get some fresh air? The only time I've been allowed out of the castle was when I had Care of Magical Creatures, and I could just see you thinking about telling me to drop that course." Severus looked guilty. Harry nodded. "I knew it." He sighed and leaned back. "You've also been a bear for these past two weeks."

"That's his fault," Severus said immediately, pointing at Lucius. "He used a new hex on me, and today was the first time I had the chance to research it and get rid of it. It was painful, too!"

"I didn't know you were still under it," Lucius objected. "You can't blame that on me. I would have taken it off if I knew."

"And they think *I'm* the child," Harry muttered under his breath with a hidden grin. He spoke up. "I've got to agree with Lucius on this one. Even if you didn't want to tell him that you didn't know what it was, you could certainly have told me. I would have either researched it, or gotten the counter out of Lucius, and you wouldn't have had to live with it for the past two weeks."

He turned to his husband. "As to you, Lucius... do you think I'm stupid?"

Lucius looked at him in surprise. "Of course not!"

"Then why are you hiding things from me? Do you think I don't know how much flak you've been getting since our being a couple was announced? Do you think I don't realize that if an election was held right now, you'd lose by a large margin because of your marriage to me?" He shook his head as he glared at the older man. "I don't need to be protected from the reality of being your mate! I knew what I was getting into. Heck, I'm the one that got you the job in the first place! Have you forgotten that? I know just how fickle the wizarding world is; I've lived with that for years. This is something we should have been working on together, because it's not just about you!"

There was silence for several minutes. "Well?" he finally growled, looking at them both. "Isn't there anything you would like to say?" He rolled his eyes before either one of them opened their mouths. "I'm not looking for an apology here, I want an explanation. And while you're at it, I also need an explanation for why it seems like you two have been using me against each other. That is one thing that I'm definitely not going to accept. If you're going to fight with each other, you are going to leave me out of it. I am not going to take sides with either of you, and neither one of you is going to turn me against the other."

Both men reared back at that. "I wasn't!" "We weren't doing that!" Their responses tripped over each other.

"That's what it looked like from where I was standing," Harry stated.

"Harry," Severus said seriously. "I admit I interrupted you two quite a bit, but I wasn't doing it on purpose. I didn't realize until this afternoon that I had been doing it at all." He sighed and spoke as seriously as he could. "I was scared," he admitted. "You had been taken from me, right from the middle of Hogwarts, when I was less than a hundred meters away from you, and there wasn't a single thing I could do about it. You and your child had been placed into danger, and I couldn't protect you, and thanks to him," he nodded towards Lucius, "I couldn't even go after you. Now, Dumbledore is out there somewhere, and he thinks your child is some great evil, and there's no real way of knowing whether he can enter Hogwarts or not. I just start to worry if I don't know where you are. I feel like I need to keep you where I can see you, just so I know you're okay."

"I understand that," Harry admitted. "But you're taking overprotectiveness way too far. You can't keep me locked up. You've got to trust that I can take care of myself, at least for a while."

Severus nodded his understanding. He might not agree, but at least he understood what Harry was saying.

Lucius leaned forward. "I am not going to apologize for going to Harry. I know he's your son, but he's my husband and carrying my child, and I had both the right and responsibility to make sure he was alright."

"But so did I!" Severus argued.

"Yes," Lucius agreed. "You did. But I needed someone here who I could trust to handle things. There was also no telling how much of a political mess I was heading into. Though I admit, I wasn't thinking of that so much as I was of Harry."

"You could have left someone else here, and we both could have gone," Severus contended.

"Who?" Lucius asked immediately. "Whom could I have trusted, that had the power to deal with Dumbledore? I trust Weasley, but not with something this important, nor did he have the power to take on Dumbledore if it became necessary. I also doubt he thought of the old man as we did. You must admit, there were few people who really *knew* what that old mage had done. They might have heard of it, but I can bet you, most of them would have a very hard time believing it. Besides, a mage needed to stay, just in case. Who did you think it should be? My son?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Severus said immediately.

"Then who? Tell me, whom else could I have trusted? Who else could have managed?"

"Well, I didn't manage too well, now did I?" Severus snarled back. "He got away!"

"Regardless of what I might have said in the heat of the moment, there was nothing you could do about that," Lucius admitted. "You did the best you could, I know that. There was no possible way to know that Dumbledore had compulsions on others. We're still not sure all the compulsions are off of me, or you, or Harry. I was a student here too, so I might have those, as well as whatever he put on us when we were unconscious. There's no way of knowing how things might have turned out if I made a different choice, but I'm never going to believe I didn't make the right one. At the time, the most important thing, the most urgent need, was Harry. Period."

"But he was the most important thing to me, as well," Severus reminded him.

Harry smiled rapturously. It was very rare that he got to hear those types of sentiments from either one of them, and they seemed to have forgotten he was in the room. He quietly wiped off a tear that had been drifting down his cheek and sniffed loudly. The two men turned to look at them. He just smiled back brightly, even though he was unable to stop more tears. "Stupid hormones," he murmured, but didn't really seem to mean it.

"I'm glad you two are getting on together," Harry said happily.

"I'm sorry you got put in the middle of our fight," Severus said simply.

"I, as well," Lucius agreed.

"It's okay," Harry said. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again... Please!" They both nodded their agreement.

"Now, Lucius," Harry became serious again. "Would you care to tell me why you've been hiding what's been going on?"

"How did you find out about that?" he asked, frowning.

"I have my sources," Harry said mysteriously. "And I'm not going to tell you about them, because I have no intention of having them dry up on me. Now explain."

"I didn't tell you because there was nothing you could do," Lucius said simply.

"Just like there was no way I could get you elected, or Fudge deposed?" Harry answered back immediately. "I thought we'd proved, a long time ago, that there were far more things I could do than most people would expect." He stood up. "I'm going to get together with the gang and we'll deal with this. Don't worry about it. Now, I'm hungry and I believe it's time for dinner, which I will be eating in the Great Hall. I found out today just how much I've been isolated for the past couple of weeks, and that's going to stop. You two are welcome to join me at the middle table." He swept out.

"Middle table? What middle table?" Lucius asked, confused.

"I have no idea," Severus admitted.

They hurried out after him.

"Oh," Harry said as they caught up. "I'm also going to be exploring the rest of Godric's rooms. You're welcome if you want to join me. I'm pretty sure that one of the carvings leads to Godric's Keep. Maybe we'll be able to bring his spirit portrait back to Hogwarts." He continued on, talking about his plans, while the two older men just tried to keep up. When Harry said he was tired of just letting things go, he'd obviously meant more than just the dressing down they'd just gotten. They both smiled to themselves. It was good to see him excited and brimming with plans.

Chapter 38/?

Harry strode into the Grand Hall a couple of minutes before dinner would begin. There were only a few people sitting on the benches waiting. They all watched as Harry spoke a single word and a light shone on the floor between the middle two tables.

Harry walked over to the light and dropped to his knees. He murmured quietly to the floor, so quietly no one nearby could hear him. It was obvious Hogwarts did, however. Everyone shouted with surprise as the Great Hall suddenly grew wider.

Harry stood up and dusted off his hands, looking around approvingly. He looked back at Lucius and Severus standing behind him. "Well, are you going to help me, or not?"

"It would help if you would tell us what you're doing," Lucius murmured.

Harry just grinned. "Just give me some power," he ordered. "This is going to take a bit."

The two older men looked at each other, considering.

"You either trust me, or you don't," Harry said unfairly.

Severus cuffed his son gently on the back of his head, but his voice was hard. "Emotional blackmail is *not* an acceptable means of interpersonal communication." he made sure Harry was looking at him and knew he meant what he said, "In other words, do *not* try that again."

Harry dropped his eyes and blushed. "Yes, sir," he said quietly. He explained quickly. "I'd like to move all the tables back to leave room in the middle for an Inter-House table. And not just for my group of friends. I really think it's something the school could use."

Severus considered his words. "We will try it and see how it works. I agree; it will not simply be for your group. That would completely defeat the purpose of what you *say* you are trying to do."

"I understand," Harry agreed. "However, is it okay if, just for today, it stays just for us? I really need to talk to the group. I suppose I could wait until after dinner to talk to them, but I'd really like to do it now."

"I will allow you to set up a part of it for that purpose. You may even put up a privacy or silence barrier if you believe it to be necessary. But do not abuse the privilege."

"Yes, sir," Harry answered. He looked up at his husband. "You don't have anything to say about this?"

"What happens in the school is really none of my business," Lucius shrugged. "Not for something such as this, in any case."

Harry returned to his project, considering what he would need to do. Severus and Lucius placed their hands on Harry's shoulders. Both of them were carefully monitoring everything the black-haired boy did as he carefully picked up the tables and benches with students, and moved them away from the center of the room and set them back down just as gently. Once the center of the floor was clear, he knelt once more.

"Could you move over there?" Harry asked, motioning to the right side of the Hall. They removed their hands as Harry knelt and once more started talking to Hogwarts. Moments later, the castle answered. In the empty space appeared two long tables, looking exactly the same as the four House tables. Harry was kneeling exactly between the two of them.

He stood up and once more brushed off his hands. He looked around at the students, the number of which had increased dramatically since he started, though most were standing by the walls, watching with wide eyes.

"The middle table is open for anyone. If you want to eat with your friends from other Houses, that is the place to do it. If you just want to get to know others over a meal, whom you think you could become friends with but haven't had the opportunity, that is the place. It's also a good place for visitors to the school to sit. I do ask that for today, my group gathers at the front of the table. I hope you all don't mind if we put up a privacy screen. We need to talk about things outside of school." Harry announced.

There was a murmur of agreement among the confusion. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Blaise, Thyme, Ehlana and Roan all gathered together at the front of the table. Originally it was only Ron, 'Mione, Draco and Blaise, but Harry asked them to go get the others.

Harry took the time to notice they weren't the only ones at the middle table. However, the only others were siblings that were sorted into different Houses. Oh, well, it was only the first day. It was good to see the Patil twins and the Carrington twins being able to sit down and eat together.

Lucius and Severus had decided against sitting with the students. Instead, they sat down at the Head table.

"Severus, would you care to explain what that is about?" Headmistress McGonagall asked irately.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure," Severus answered as he watched the chattering group with narrowed eyes. "I'm not positive why Harry felt the need for that instead of meeting later. The group tends to meet fairly often in any case, so why he felt it necessary for them to eat together, I don't know. How he knew the way in which to talk to Hogwarts, in order to call another table into being, I also don't know."

"So, why did you allow it?" she asked.

"Because, while it might simply be a type of nesting behavior, it could also be his intuition showing through. He felt it was necessary, and felt it strongly enough to do it. I felt it was prudent to allow him to do so."

"The Board of Governors might complain," she reminded him.

"They will not," Lucius said firmly. It was hard to doubt him when he spoke that determinedly.

Meanwhile, at the new table, Roan was holding forth, explaining what had been found in the Gryffindor rooms.

A discussion was about to ensue on what Dumbledore was doing, when Harry stopped it cold. "We'll get back to that," he said strongly. Everyone looked at him. "Right now, we need to deal with keeping Lucius in office. We got him elected; we need to keep him there. He's doing too much good to be kicked out now, but he's getting a lot of Howlers about our relationship. What can we do about that?"

"When did we become Malfoy's public relations firm?" Ron grumbled.

"We're not," Hermione answered comfortingly. "We're Harry's. It's just that right now it's the same thing. I'm assuming people are... what? Blaming him for corrupting you?"

"Corrupting me, taking advantage of me, harming me, influencing me, you name it," Harry answered.

"What about that girl he was with at the ball?" Roan asked.

Harry shook his head with a smile. "That was me," he said easily. He smiled dopily in remembrance. "That was a wonderful night."

"That's what we have to get out there," Thyme said gently. "How happy he makes you. We've got to make the world see how much you love him. It's hard to hate someone who's genuinely in love and so happy. Not to mention when there's a baby on the way. You're going to have to show he's a family man, and you are most definitely a part of that family."

Everyone was ignoring Roan and Neville's astonished expressions.

"I'm sorry Harry," Ron said softly. "But you really need to be seen out in his presence. They're going to have to see you together to get used to you."

Harry blanched, but reluctantly nodded.

"What's the problem with that?" Ehlana asked, confused.

"I don't like going out in public. I had a *really* bad experience, and right now I just prefer staying away from people I don't know." Harry explained.

"Explain that," Neville said thoughtfully, having gotten over his shock, but still having a lot of questions. "Maybe to those reporters Lucius brought here that time."

Blaise nodded. "I agree. Tell them what you told us. That because things were so bad, you had been thinking of returning to the Muggle world full-time after you graduated."

"Then, add that the main reason you will be staying in the wizarding world is because of my dad," Draco expanded on his Housemate's suggestion.

"You might want to add that you and Mr. Malfoy didn't do anything until you were of age," Hermione suggested. "That might help some people get over it."

"I don't see why that's any of their business," Harry glared.

"Yes, well, since when do people keep to their own business?" Draco asked sarcastically.

Harry put his chin on his hands. "At least I won't have to go out in public very often. If we go out when school's in session there will be talk about how he's taking me away from my studies."

"True," Draco admitted.

"So, do you think I should sugarcoat it, or be brutal?" Harry wondered.

"Go for brutal," Ron told him. "You've got to make them understand what they've been doing to you. Get it out there, and make sure they understand. It's the only way you're going to get them to leave you alone."

Harry was a bit surprised to be getting that advice from Ron, but agreed completely.

They continued to talk about it as they dragged out their dinner. By the time it was over, they had a plan.

Part 39/?

The two reporters walked into the meeting room at Hogwarts, unsure of what they were walking into. They were very surprised to find Harry Potter... *the* Harry Potter, waiting there for them.

"Harry Potter!" one of them blurted out.

"Snape!" Harry groaned. "Why is that so hard for people to remember?"

The other smiled consolingly. "It will take a bit of time. You've been Potter for so long, it will take a bit for people to remember all of the time."

"And, quite honestly," the other murmured, "many find it hard to believe you willingly allowed yourself to be adopted by Severus Snape."

"They can take a hike," Harry remarked in a hard voice. "I chose this, and I am happy with it. Quite honestly, I don't care even slightly what they think." He looked sternly at them. "Except, where it has to do with my husband. If it weren't for the problems he's been having, we wouldn't even be having this conversation."

"So, he made you," one inferred.

"Mr. Marnier," Harry stalked toward him. The aura of menace he was exuding became a hundred times worse as Flick rose on his shoulder and hissed. "I would suggest, very strongly, that you keep your assumptions to yourself. Especially such baseless ones against my husband."

Marnier paled as he sank back into the wall behind him. Maybe the boy was a Snape, after all. He certainly could be just as scary.

Harry turned towards the other. "Well, Mr. Thistlewaite, did you have something to add?"

"No, Mr. Snape. Not right now," Thistlewaite said with aplomb.

Harry checked to make sure that Marnier was still cowed, before settling back down, petting Flick until she calmed down. "Actually," he said thoughtfully. "Lucius tried to keep what was happening hidden from me. We've had words about that. It won't be happening again."

Both reporters blinked. They couldn't believe someone could be so blasé about having *words* with Minister of Magic and ex-Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy.

"Take a seat," he offered graciously.

Both of them settled down tentatively.

"Mr. Snape," Thistlewaite began. "Are there any questions you would prefer us to stay away from?"

Harry thought for a moment. "You can ask whatever you wish, but I reserve the right not to answer if a question is too personal. And, if that happens too often, the interview will immediately be concluded."

Both reporters nodded their understanding.

"How did Minister Malfoy and yourself become a couple?" Thistlewaite asked, hoping that wouldn't be considered too personal.

"I spent a while this summer at Malfoy Manor, as Draco's guest," Harry said with a fond smile. "We got to know each other then. We both found ourselves interested in each other, and it slowly grew into more."

"How old were you?" Marnier asked bravely.

Harry glared at him, trying to decide if he meant anything by that question, but finally answered. "We kissed for the first time on my sixteenth birthday, but didn't go any farther for quite a while." His tone was a clear warning that that was all they were going to get on the subject, and prying would not be a good idea.

Marnier tried a different subject. "Mr. Malfoy suggested that you had been abused by the Muggles that raised you. Is that true?"

Harry simply nodded.

"It must have been a great relief to enter the wizarding world," he said searchingly.

Harry snorted. "Yeah, right."

Thistlewaite frowned. "You didn't find it better here?"

"Physically," Harry admitted. "Except for the times Voldemort or someone else tried to kill me. But otherwise, no."

"I don't understand," he acknowledged.

"Do you know what it's like to go from being absolutely nothing, knowing you're worthless, having been told a million times that you should never have been born, until you agreed with that yourself, to suddenly find yourself a celebrity, worshiped by many and wanted dead by a few, for doing something you didn't even do on purpose?" He sighed deeply. "I thought that going to Hogwarts would be my new start. That maybe things would be better in a new school where no one knew or was afraid of my cousin, so that I'd have a chance to have friends and a *normal* life. Instead, I came to a place where everyone was convinced they knew everything about me. And expected everything. They thought I should be the top student, regardless of the fact that I knew nothing about magic. I would be good and kind and brave and all-around wonderful. And when I wasn't, then I must be evil. There was no in-between. I couldn't be just a regular kid. I wasn't allowed off the pedestal they placed me on. They all did it. Everyone except Severus. Yeah, I didn't like the way he ragged on me, but it was loads better than being revered. Trust me on that. There were only three good things about Hogwarts. Ron, Hermione, and magic. I did love magic. I expected it to be the only thing I really missed once I left the wizarding world."

"What do you mean, 'once you left'?" Marnier blurted.

"I had no intention of staying around after I graduated," Harry answered honestly. "Once I was through with Hogwarts, I was getting as far away from the wizarding world as I could. I had every intention of disappearing. Especially after the problems I had out in public at the end of last year." He looked straight at them. "I do not want people getting hurt because of me. I won't accept that."

He got up and started to pace. "I am not some sort of ... god! I'm nothing special at all! And yet everyone expects such great things of me. Do you know, there are people who expect me to be able to heal just by touching them? I get letters from people having problems with vampires or ghouls, and expecting me to do something about it, because I'm Harry Potter! I'm sixteen years old! I'm still in school! I'm not some miracle worker who knows everything and can do no wrong!"

"And then there are the people who seem to think they're perfect for me. I've had wedding proposals from hundreds of people I've never even met, most of whom are years older than me..." he stopped and suddenly grinned. "Now that's a stupid thing to say, isn't it? Still, it's different with Lucius. Anyway, most of these are female. I've had people that want to have my baby... some without even asking first, or who refuse to take 'no' for an answer. I actually had to find a spell, to put on myself, so that none of my hair, skin or anything else could be used in a spell without my permission. I had people trying to steal hairs and such for all sorts of reasons. Love spells, conception spells, Polyjuice, and of course, the curses."

"Because, yes, I get those too. And it's not even all from Death Eaters or ex-Death Eaters or wanna-be Death Eaters. I've had people actually try to tell me that now that Voldemort is dead, I need to die so I won't become like him. Can you believe that?" He threw his hands up in the air. "I've had a couple try to kill me, so they can prove they're stronger than me. They just see it as a competition! I've even had people say that I should be sent to Azkaban because I killed Voldemort! It's a good thing I didn't use an Unforgivable on him, because I have little doubt Fudge would have done just that, if I had."

He dropped back down in the chair and sighed. "But I'm not Harry Potter anymore, and for once, I have a chance to be the person *I* want to be. And that includes being the son of a man who loves me, and is the father I always dreamed of having. It includes being married to a man who loves me, and with whom I am deeply in love. It definitely includes having a child, even carrying it, the final proof of the love and creation of the family I always wanted. A family that loves me for me. Not because of something I did when I was only one year old. Not even because of something I did last year. But because they know who I am, and they approve. They like me just the way I am, and don't want me to be something I'm not. And for the first time in my entire life, I am completely happy. Nothing and no one can take that away from me. I refuse to let them."

"Dumbledore can plot and plan as much as he wants. He will never win. Not because I'm stronger than him, but because, for the first time in my life, I have something intimately personal, worth living for... and worth fighting to keep. I fought Voldemort because it was expected of me, and because he tried to kill me. Even, a bit, as revenge for killing my parents, taking away the happy family I could have had. If Dumbledore tries the same, he will find I'm a thousand times more dangerous now than I ever was before. Because now it's worth it; now, it's personal. At whatever price, what I've found is worth it. And I'm not going to give it up."

"You can tell your readers this. I love my husband, and I support him in whatever he chooses to do. I know, far more than they, exactly what he's fighting every day. Perhaps, one day, we'll have a wizarding world that doesn't depend on an eleven-year-old boy to save it. A society where the people know how to cooperate to fight together, instead of putting it all on the shoulders of a single person. Lucius will do what it takes to raise our world from the depths it has sunk. I will be beside him, all the way. But understand this... the only ones I really care about, are the family I have, and the friends I have made. Nobody else had better get in my way. I will protect those who are dear to me with *all* of my power. And you haven't seen anything yet." He turned around and walked out, leaving two flabbergasted men in his wake.


	12. Chapter 40, 41 and 42

No students for two whole weeks! Yay! And I still can't remember it's Monday... ah well.

Part 40/?

Harry stuck his head back into the room. "Well?" he asked smiling. "Are you coming, or what?" He disappeared again.

"What the?" Marnier asked completely confused.

Thistlewaite however, suddenly believed he understood. Unlike his associate, he was married. He'd seen his spouse through two pregnancies; they were worth it, since they now had two lovely children.

They hurried out of the room to find Harry waiting for them in the hallway. "How are you dealing with the hormones?" Thistlewaite asked.

Harry shrugged. "A little better than I was. My father and Madam Faire have me on a potion that moderates some of it. It's still worse than it would be with a woman, just because her body would already be used to creating some of them."

"I thought Madam Pomfrey was the mediwitch here," Marnier stated.

"Oh, she is," Harry agreed. "However, she hasn't dealt with even a normal pregnancy since her training days. Madam Faire, on the other hand, is the leading expert on male pregnancies. She was between jobs at the time and her eldest granddaughter goes to school here, so she jumped at the chance to move in and help."

"Are you showing yet?" Marnier asked.

Harry looked at him, frowning. "I'm only at nine weeks."

"Um... so that means..." Marnier hinted. Unlike his counterpart, he was a bachelor and had never even been around a pregnant female as far as he knew.

"It means, no, I'm not showing," Harry growled.

He was pretty sure that with females it was about fourth or fifth month, but would it be different, since he was male? He made a note to ask Madam Faire about it later.

"Excuse me, Mr. Snape?" Thistlewaite asked softly.

"Hmm?" Harry answered encouragingly.

"Where are we going?"

"We're having dinner with my father, and hopefully Lucius will be able to stop by as well," Harry answered.

"You...um... do know what happened to Mrs. Malfoy, don't you?" Marnier asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do," Harry answered easily.

"Are you sure he told you the truth?" he prodded.

"What are you talking about?" Harry halted and turned around to glare at the reporter.

"Well, it's just... rumor has it that he... well... killed her..." he said tentatively.

"That's ridiculous," Harry scoffed. "Voldemort killed her. She told him about Draco and Severus helping me, and warned him that they were traitors. She should have realized that Voldemort didn't believe the old adage about not killing the messengers."

"Mr. Malfoy told you that?" Marnier pressed on.

"No, actually, he didn't. He wasn't even there," Harry stalked slowly forward, while the reporter backed carefully away. "I saw the whole thing. It truly sucked, knowing what Voldie was doing whenever he was really angry... and really throwing the curses around. At least I was able to tell Severus not to return to him. Unfortunately, I also had to tell Draco that his mother was dead, and why." His face was bleak with remembrance. He shook it off. "Yes, I know *exactly* what happened to Narcissa. It will not be brought up again, nor will you write anything about it. Is that understood?" he growled.

"Yes," Marnier gulped. "I understand."

Harry nodded once and turned on his heel to stomp off. As he moved away, Thistlewaite glared at the other reporter. "You're treading on very thin ground," he warned the other man.

"I thought you said it was hormones," Marnier snarked back.

Thistlewaite glared at him as if he was crazy. "His moving from angry to happy so fast might be hormones, but his being that dangerous... that's just Harry Potter... or Snape. He really *is* that dangerous. And you're rapidly getting on his bad side."

"You got that right," Harry called back over his shoulder as he stalked down the hallway.

He led the way to Severus' rooms with no more questions asked.

"Hi, dad," he said, smiling once more.

"Hello, Harry," Severus said stoically, his eyes on the men following him.

Harry just grinned at him while the two reporters watched their interaction quietly. "Has Lucius made it yet?"

"Not yet. He should be here momentarily," Severus said. His face softened slightly as he looked at his son. He knew Harry wouldn't take his attitude personally. The young man just had a different way of coping. He had no doubt that Harry was completely cognizant of everything the two men were doing. There was no way he'd allow strangers to stay behind him if he that weren't true.

Lucius chose that moment to walk in. His eyes swept over the occupants of the room, glaring coldly at the reporters before warming at seeing his husband. He walked over to Harry and bent down to kiss him, long and deep.

Draco walked in behind his father, getting there just in time to watch Harry's arms winding around his father's neck. "Must you?" he bantered playfully.

"Yep," Harry tore his mouth away for just long enough to answer.

"Okay, that's enough," Draco ordered. "I'm hungry, and I want to know what you found out today."

Harry reluctantly pulled away, looking up at Lucius with a soft, besotted expression. Lucius' expression might have been masked, but the signs of his deep caring were there if you knew how to look. One of the reporters took the time to notice.

Severus rang for a house elf. Seconds later there was a pop as Dobby teleported in. The first one he saw was Harry. "HarryPotter called for Dobby?" Dobby asked. Only afterwards did he notice who all were there. His already large eyes got even bigger as he saw his old master standing there with his arms still around Harry.

"Hi Dobby," Harry said happily. "I haven't seen you in ages! Where have you been? How's Winky?"

"HarryPotter was worried about Dobby? Dobby is so happy! Is HarryPotter okay?" he was watching Lucius carefully.

"I'm fine, Dobby, but it's Harry Snape now. Professor Snape adopted me. And I know you already know my husband, Lucius Malfoy," Harry said carefully. He didn't want any problems, and he knew Dobby and Lucius had a history.

"Dobby knows LuciusMalfoy," Dobby agreed slowly.

"Now that the introductions are over, do you think we could get some food up here?" Severus asked darkly.

"Dobby bring food right up," the house elf said before popping out, still looking carefully at Lucius. He was back moments later with a large spread for the table that had been moved into the sitting room.

Once he was gone again, Draco laughed. "He doesn't approve, does he?"

Harry looked over the food before him. There were a couple of his favorites, so he was still in Dobby's good graces. However, there were also a number of foods that Lucius didn't care for. Harry giggled. "I guess not."

They sat down to eat, Severus at the head of the table and Lucius at the foot. Harry debated for a moment which one he should sit by before settling down next to his husband. Draco sat between him and Severus, with the two reporters across the table.

"Well?" Draco asked, after they had transfigured some of the food into more appetizing choices. He wrinkled his nose as Harry took a large helping of bubble and squeak. Since when did Harry like cabbage so much?

"Well, it's definite," Harry answered. "I'm not Gryffindor's Heir."

Part 41/?

"What?" Draco blinked.

"And how, exactly, do you know that?" Severus asked with a scowl.

Harry looked confused for a moment, before he realized why his father was asking that way. "We wouldn't have gone in, I promise!" he said quickly. "We just tried the door."

"I can't believe you're not descended from Gryffindor," Draco said, trying to pull attention away from Harry's actions. He'd have his own words with his friend about not inviting him along, later.

"Oh, I am," Harry admitted. "But then again, the man had seventeen children over the course of sixty years, between thirty and fifty generations ago. I'd be surprised if anyone with a bit of pure blood in them isn't descended from him. I'm also descended from the other three in one way or another. Actually, the one who I have the most blood connection to is..." he stopped and grinned.

"Slytherin," his family guessed immediately.

"Incorrect," Harry grinned harder, almost maniacally. "Hufflepuff."

"What?"

Harry laughed so hard at the look on all of their faces, that only Lucius' quick action saved him from taking a header off of his chair.

Draco sighed and wiped a hand across his forehead dramatically. "For a moment, I thought you meant it. You shouldn't play tricks like that on people, Harry."

Harry tried to get his giggles under control. "I did mean it. I'll show you what we found after dinner." As Severus started to glower, Harry hastened to reassure him. "In the library, father."

"Gryffindor had seventeen children?" Thistlewaite was brave enough to speak up. "I'd never heard that."

Harry was finally able to speak. "According to Salazar and Rowena, his family and the family home were the only things which he was secretive about. Very few people even knew he was married, and only some of the kids went to Hogwarts, just to keep people from figuring it out."

"The Weasleys are obviously descended from him, with those types of numbers," Severus murmured. "It's obviously a Gryffindor trait."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, they are. Much more than I am, that's for sure, but still not directly enough for one of them to be the Heir. Others are closer. We haven't actually tried it yet, but the portraits think that the Heir has to be descended from all seventeen of the children. And there's only one of those here at Hogwarts right now. We were going to try the door tomorrow afternoon."

Severus looked deep into the mischievous eyes of his son, and groaned. "Tell me it isn't Longbottom. Please, tell me it isn't him."

"And what problem do you have with Neville? I thought you were getting along much better with him now." Harry frowned at the insult to his friend.

"He is much more tolerable now than he was before." Severus admitted. "However, for some reason, the idea of Longbottom as the Heir of Gryffindor fills me with dread."

"All I want to know is that Vincent isn't the Heir of Slytherin." Draco begged.

"I thought the Dark Lord was the Heir of Slytherin?" Marnier barged in.

"Not according to Salazar," Harry told him. "He couldn't stand him. Of course, neither is Crabbe."

"But you know who is?" Lucius asked.

"Yep," Harry admitted, smirking. He took another helping of the cabbage and potato dish known as bubble and squeak.

"And, are you going to inform us?" Lucius murmured.

"After dinner," Harry told him.

"I believe we've finished," Lucius informed him, looking around the table.

"That's nice," Harry said, continuing to eat. "Is there a treacle tart for dessert?"

The others waited none too patiently for Harry to finish eating. Finally, he decided he'd had enough and stood up. "Come on, it's off the library."

"What?" Marnier murmured rebelliously, but led the way out of the room. He didn't realize that the reason he went first was because none of the others trusted him at their backs. There certainly wasn't any way Lucius would allow him behind Harry. Severus went behind Marnier, but in front of Thistlewaite, who was in the middle, just ahead of both of the Sixth Years.

Once at the library, Harry took the lead. He walked back to one of the seldom-used sections, Genealogy.

"You could have just said you looked it up in the genealogy books," Draco complained.

"Oh, we didn't," Harry murmured, moving farther back. He headed straight to the back wall, pulled out a book and reached behind it.

No one could see what he was doing, but suddenly a section of the bookcases swung out.

"I'm sure it won't surprise anyone to know this is one of the Ravenclaw rooms." Harry said, even as he walked through the open door. The others followed quickly.

"By Merlin!" Thistlewaite swore.

Unsurprisingly, Draco, Severus and Lucius swore by Salazar instead.

The entire room was covered in names. Floor, walls and ceiling were all covered by names connected to each other by lines that seemed to go through and around, yet never actually covered up any other names.

"Why are two of the names glowing?" Lucius asked, looking around.

"Because they were called out," Harry explained. He walked over and touched one on the wall. "Salazar Slytherin and Merlin," he pointed to the one glowing on the ceiling. "Watch this." He spoke up strongly. "Harry James Potter Snape to Salazar Slytherin."

A green light brought everyone's attention to the ground. There was Harry's name, glowing green. Suddenly a line appeared, running up through his mother's name and beyond. The green light split three times before combining once more at Salazar Slytherin.

"See," Harry explained. "I'm related to Salazar through my mother. Three people descended from Slytherin married into my family, here," he pointed at each, "here, and here. Harry James Potter Snape to Godric Gryffindor," he said next. The light changed to red and went through his father's name. Again, there were three divisions, leading eventually to three of Godric's children and then to the man himself. "You've got to remember, this is between thirty and fifty generations. Almost everyone with any wizarding blood is probably related to all four of the Founders." He showed off his other connections, two divisions that went to Ravenclaw and five that went to Hufflepuff.

"Neville Longbottom to Godric Gryffindor," he said next.

Everyone could almost immediately see why Neville would be considered Gryffindor's Heir. The red light went to both of his parents and split many, many times over the forty or so generations, eventually leading to all seventeen children.

"What did you do to find the Heirs? Trace the bloodlines of all of your classmates?" Draco asked.

"Nope, it's much simpler than that," Harry explained. "Rowena Ravenclaw to her Heir," he ordered.

Yellow light started at Rowena's name and moved down through her eldest son. Ten generations later, it moved to the Prince line and stayed there until it reached Severus Slayton Snape.

"What?" Severus looked absolutely astounded.

Harry just laughed. "You told me most of your family, especially on your mother's side, were Ravenclaws. I guess now we know why."

"Draco Malfoy to Salazar Slytherin," Draco suddenly spoke up and brought everyone's attention away from the still shell-shocked Slytherin... or should that be Ravenclaw?

Green light started at Draco and went up through both of his parents. Green light seemed to come into the family at almost every single marriage, eventually leading to all five of Salazar's children.

"I'm the Heir of Slytherin?" Draco said in disbelief.

Harry looked at the infestation of green light and shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

Draco started to pout.

"Sorry," Harry shrugged. "But I ran the Heir one earlier. It's not you... yet."

Everyone looked at him strangely before most of them understood.

"What do you mean by that?" Marnier asked.

Harry just smiled secretively and changed the subject. "You know, it doesn't just go to the Founders," he explained. "Harry James Potter to Severus Slayton Snape," he said. The light took a very complicated path, but it did finally join up the two names. "I think we're like fourteenth cousins or something."

Everyone started playing with it. That Severus and Lucius were third cousins didn't really surprise anyone. The fact that the Malfoys were in any way related to the Weasleys, did. Of course, Hermione's name wasn't connected to anyone, since the room only worked for wizard-kind, and unlike Lily Evans, Hermione truly was Muggleborn.

Lucius was tracing a connection carefully, frowning thoughtfully. He turned around to look at his young husband. It seemed strange that both he and Severus, both mages, were heavily related to one of the Founders, also mages. And yet, Harry really wasn't. Of course, Longbottom was heavily related to Gryffindor, and yet he was not a mage. Perhaps it truly didn't have anything to do with it, or perhaps… His storm-grey eyes moved back to the connection he'd been following. Perhaps... He came to his decision, then firmly called out what he was thinking. "Harry James Potter Snape to Merlin."

Everyone looked over at him, then refocused on the tracery as white light limned Harry's name and almost exploded upwards, across the floor, onto the walls and up to the ceiling to finally reach the legendary mage's name. The light was so bright it was almost blinding.

"Merlin to his Heir," Severus murmured.

The light faded, only to start from the other end and trace the exact same route, leaving Harry's name once more glowing with a brilliant white light.

Part 42/?

Harry was wide-eyed, almost gasping.

"What does this mean?" Draco asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm not sure," Lucius admitted.

Harry finally got control of his voice... and groaned. "Oh, man! That's *so* not right!" He glared at yet another proof of his *specialness* before turning around and practically running out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

"I've got it," Lucius told the others, striding out after his young husband.

Draco shook his head. "And he was so enjoying this." He turned to glare at Severus. "You had to go and ask for the Heir, didn't you? If you hadn't, it could have just been a coincidence."

Severus shook his head. "We had to know," he said reprovingly. He carefully hid any expression of remorse that might have wished to show on his face. He, also, had seen how much fun Harry had been having, showing them around. He'd had a blast surprising them with the revelations found in this room. For once, he wasn't the special one. At least, not until Lucius asked about his relationship to Merlin.

Draco turned his glare on the two interlopers. Who cared that they had been invited? They weren't part of his family, and at this moment, they weren't wanted. "This will *not* be written about. Is that understood?"

Thistlewaite blinked and nodded. And to think he had been considering this boy to be less dangerous than the rest of them. Marnier looked rebellious, but reluctantly nodded. It might be the scoop of the century, but wizarding contracts were binding and he knew what the repercussions of breaking his would be.

Severus waved the two reporters out the door and followed after them with Draco on his heels. Draco closed the door behind them. He would have liked to send the reporters off, but he didn't know if he trusted them out of his sight with the information they currently had. However, he also didn't want them in the way. Of course, there was a compromise... right there, in fact. "Blaise!"

Hermione, Ron, Blaise and Thyme were gathered together at one table. "What's up?" Blaise asked, looking askance at the two others. It took him a moment before he realized where he'd seen them before. "Reporters?" he asked.

"Yes," Draco agreed. "These are Thistlewaite and Marnier. They're going to write up their articles. Will you check them over? You all know what Harry would want." The fact that he trusted them to know what his father would want as well was unspoken, but most realized it.

"Of course we will," Hermione answered for the others. So what if the reporters didn't think they needed to be guarded, their work edited by a bunch of students. Their wishes were really of no consequence.

Sure that the two Gryffindors and the pair of Slytherin could take care of most problems the reporters might come up with, Severus and Draco headed back down to the dungeons.

They found what they expected. Lucius was sitting in one of the more comfortable armchairs with Harry curled up in his lap.

"Is everything okay?" Severus asked softly.

"Yeah," Harry muttered without opening his eyes. "Just fate messing around with me... again." He sighed and finally looked up at them. "I really thought that I'd be normal in this way, you know? You guys would get all the publicity; maybe I'd even be able to fade into the woodwork a little. I know you all enjoy being in the public eye a lot more than I do. And for Neville to be the Heir of Gryffindor... Do you have any idea what that could do for the last bit of his self-confidence problem?" He sat up a little. "Do you have any idea how happy I was to find out I wasn't the Heir of any of the Founders? Oh no, not me! I couldn't be anything that simple. I have to be the Heir to bloody Merlin himself!"

"So?" Draco asked.

Harry looks up at him, confused.

"Think about it," Draco looked him straight in the eye. "My dad is the Heir of Slytherin. That's something that we're going to use for bragging rights for ages. But besides that, what good does knowing that do us? We've already got most of Salazar's stuff. In fact, we've got Salazar himself. The fact that we're mages might or might not come from him. Longbottom is certainly not a mage. So, besides bragging rights, what do you get out of being Merlin's Heir?"

Harry snorted. "And when has my life ever been that simple? If it comes up, it's bound to be important."

"Even if that were to be true," Severus interceded, "which I'm not saying it will be; in this case I find myself agreeing with the young Mr. Malfoy. Still, 'forewarned is forearmed'"

"Yeah, and what about when this gets out?" Harry snarled.

"Well, it certainly won't be reported by those two," Draco smirked. "I left them in Hermione's charge. She and the others have to approve anything they write. It's good having our own public relations firm."

Harry laughed slightly.

Lucius glared. "Are you aware that girl actually had the audacity to try to give me a lecture on acceptable PDA's. Aren't those some kind of Muggle contraptions?"

Harry laughed more. "Um... no, PDA's are public displays of affection. Yeah, I got that lecture as well. She thinks we should do more. I'm not actually going to complain about that, though. If we've got to be seen in public, I certainly don't mind being seen kissing you."

"If she were not a friend of yours, she would find herself hexed beyond bearing for her temerity."

"Of course she would." Harry smiled condescendingly to hide the fact that he knew his husband was fully capable of doing as he said. His smile softened. And the only reason he wasn't doing it, was because of him. Then again, Hermione had too good a sense of self-preservation to have actually done something like that to Lucius without Harry as back-up.

Back at the library table, Marnier was complaining about having some kids look over his work. That was not part of the bargain he thought he'd made. Ron quickly set him straight. "Whatever you write is going to impact our friend. So it certainly *is* our job to make sure you get it right. We take protecting our friends *very* seriously."

Thistlewaite just shook his head. Marnier was never the most intuitive wand in the store, but he didn't usually make as many mistakes as he had so far today. It was as though he couldn't believe *children* could be any threat. He should have had that idea wiped out within moments of meeting Harry. The reporter couldn't decide whether he hoped he'd be there when the man got his comeuppance or not. Well, at least he knew how to choose his battles.

He pushed those thoughts out of his mind and concentrated on writing an article that would have enough revelations to bring in lots of readers and earn him some good money, without giving away anything the Malfoys and Snapes did not want getting out


	13. Chapter 43, 44, 45 and half of 46

Yep, I said half of 46. The rest of 46 is the start of the date, which lasts until the end of part 49, so I though it was better to split it here so I keep the parts together ^_^. Enjoy!

Part 43/?

Harry stood in front of the doorway that led to the Gryffindor secret rooms, and, if what they believed was true, the entrance to Godric's Keep as well. It had been almost a week since they had last planned to try the door. Harry hid a smile, knowing that most of those with him would not appreciate it. Harry'd known the DADA professor wouldn't put up with the way the students had been treating him for long, and he'd been right.

Connor obviously knew something about teenagers. If there was one thing most teens hated, it was being laughed at, and lots of people had been laughing for the past week. The spell had been simple, a form of the 'Ridikulus' used against boggarts, but tweaked with a bit of Tuatha de Danaan magic. It had led to most of the Sixth Years, especially the Gryffindors and Slytherins, being absolutely hilarious... as long as you weren't one of those it affected.

Of course, the spell had delayed getting to the Keep. For some reason, Neville didn't want to go while he was still looking as if he were wearing his grandmother's dress and hat. It had been an extremely hard to defeat illusion. It didn't matter what he actually wore, that was all anyone ever saw.

As for Draco, the graceful Slytherin had suddenly found himself much less graceful. Indeed, the Malfoy heir was suddenly the master of pratfalls. And he almost always had something in his hands when he went down. Severus wouldn't even let him do anything in Potions until the spell ran its course, too afraid of what he'd accidentally do. Needless to say, there was no way the young Malfoy wanted to meet the Founder of Gryffindor while in that state.

Ron wasn't able to do any spells for the past week, since they always went wrong, usually leading to hilarity from anyone in the vicinity. Hermione had been almost silent for a week, ashamed of the fact that she could only speak in rhyme. Blaise had gotten a strange sort of humor out of the fact that he routinely burst into song. Nobody was sure what the spell had done to Pansy, since she had refused to leave her room until it cleared.

O'Feahr had made it a class assignment to figure out what he had done and how to fix it. It had taken that entire week before Harry's group had managed to find a way to break it. That had been late last night. Luckily, it was a single spell; though it had multiple effects and multiple targets, it only had to be broken once to be broken for everyone. Or unluckily... there were certain people his friends wouldn't mind seeing kept under its effects. For instance, Lavender had occasionally turned into a very cute bunny, which all the girls gushed over; and Goyle announced to everyone he met that he couldn't stand people food and preferred to eat grass like the other horses. He'd lost five pounds in that single week.

Under other circumstances, Lucius Malfoy would not have appreciated anyone putting a spell on his son, but even he had to admit that watching the blonde-haired boy trip over his own feet was entertaining. And since no one had gotten hurt, he wasn't too worried about it. O'Feahr had been warned not to do it too often, a warning he had taken to heart.

The only other really important thing that had happened during that week was the publication of Thistlewaite's article. The group had found themselves very pleased with the man's writing. He'd kept to the rules set down and still managed to get out what Harry felt was the most important part, that he was not a child, and was fully capable of making his own decisions and choosing his own family. Lucius admitted to a decrease in the amount of Howlers he was getting since that day. On the other hand, Marnier's article had had to be rewritten five times before Hermione and Blaise would accept it, and it had turned out to be a bland little piece. Lucius had frowned when he'd read it, although Harry hadn't seen anything wrong with it. He'd let Lucius keep his own counsel... for now.

Harry looked over at Neville. "Well?" he asked softly. "Are you going to open it?"

"What if we're wrong? What if I'm not the Heir, or if this doesn't lead to Gryffindor's place?" Neville asked worriedly.

Harry shrugged. "Then we'll keep looking," he answered easily. "We won't have lost anything, if we're wrong."

Lucius Malfoy moved up and gently pulled Harry back to rest against him. "Open the door," he ordered.

Neville nodded and turned to the door that had already been expanded to its full size. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hand upon a small carving of a lion, and pushed. The door opened. Immediately, Severus and Connor moved forward to flank the young Gryffindor. O'Feahr had been asked to come along on the advice of Ehlana, and no one could deny that having another fully qualified wizard along might be a good thing. There was no telling what they might be walking into.

Neville had to go first; no one else was able to go through the door until he did. Very carefully, he stepped through, sighing in relief as there seemed to be no traps or the like. Normally, he wouldn't be worried about that, going into *Gryffindor's* home. Rather, that was something one would expect with Slytherin's, but both of the spirit portraits had stressed the man's interest in privacy when it came to his home. However, nothing untoward happened, and he was looking around with interest as the two professors followed him into the room.

The room itself was very dusty. Obviously, the house elves had been let go centuries ago, and no one had been in there since. At least, there were no marks of anyone or anything's passage in the almost inch high dust. Severus looked around, bearing an expression of not at all well hidden disgust. Really, to let a Manor come to straits like this...

Quickly, the two professors cast detection spells, looking for any traces of magic or life. The dark gray stones of the walls and floor shone faintly with the magic they contained under the layers of centuries of disuse. Severus and Connor worked quickly to verify that the magics were all benign, mostly the anti-age, anti-fire and other precautionary wards they had been told about. Only when absolutely positive of the safety of the room they were in, did Severus step back through the doorway and beckon the others to enter.

Lucius found himself glad of the presence of the Tuatha de Danaan. Although he wasn't worried about the Slytherins in the group, the Gryffindors seemed to be trying their best to live up to their reputation for impulsiveness and recklessness. It took all three of the adults just to keep the teenagers from running all over the Keep, trying to see everything at once and track down the Founder's spirit portrait. Even Roan and Hermione, who could usually be counted on to keep their heads, seemed more interested in exploring than being careful.

"You're being an old fuss-budget," Harry muttered as he was thwarted in an attempt to check out a nearby room.

"Better a fuss-budget than a widower," Lucius said with equanimity.

The Keep was more like Hogwarts than a traditional Manor. Stone seemed to be the building material of choice, and numerous torches, fireplaces and wizard glows would normally work to keep the rooms from being dark and dank. However, none of those were currently lit or working, and so the atmosphere was darker and more dank than Severus' dungeons at their worst.

The only places that did not show the ravages of time and neglect were the library and storerooms. It was obvious that those who could feel the magic were impressed with the preservation spells still active on the contents of those rooms. However, now was not the time to stop and read all the tempting books. As Roan and Hermione had to be reminded a number of times.

They traveled through dining rooms and ballrooms, bedrooms and playrooms. It seemed as if every child had been given their own separate room, leading to an extremely large number. At times, it seemed as if their search would never come to the end of the House. Several even started to wonder if they would be able to find their way back out. It was obvious that Godric had had a large influence on the creation of Hogwarts. He seemed to have an inordinate fondness for corridors that seemingly went nowhere, moving staircases and odd-shaped rooms.

The portraits, or what they assumed to be the portraits, drew everyone's attention, but no one seemed inclined to talk about them. Every frame they passed was empty. No voices spoke to them from off the walls, no eyes followed their movements as they wandered the halls, no whispered rumors greeted them, nor did gossip fly from one painting to another. And it wasn't simply that the paintings were of other subjects, without people in them. The paintings lining the corridors were obviously not landscapes. There should have been people there. There simply... weren't.

After walking for what seemed like hours, the group approached doors unlike anything they'd seen so far in the Keep. They were almost as big as the ones leading to the Great Hall. They shined by the lights of their wands, untarnished by age.

"Is that... gold?" Ron whispered in awe.

"It certainly looks like it," Ehlana answered easily. Of course, she'd grown up in a world where money, or at least precious gems and metals, did indeed grow on trees.

Roan and Connor grabbed hold of the handles on the doors and pulled. Nothing happened. They frowned in concentration and put their backs into it, pulling as hard as they could. The doors didn't budge so much as a centimeter.

"Let me try," Neville said confidently.

The two older men backed up and Neville reached forward. Without the least sign of strain, he placed his hands on the door handles and tugged. The doors swung open.

Part 44/?

The first indication of something different from what they'd walked through up until then was the noise. While the hallways had been depressingly silent, that all changed the moment the doors opened. There was the sound of people yelling and cheering. A sound that was abruptly silenced as the group of students and their chaperones walked through the doors that had not been opened for centuries.

They looked around at the gaping faces on all of the walls. Their own expressions were not much better. Three of the walls were gigantic landscapes, reaching from the floor to ceiling and from wall to wall. There was only one excuse for a room like this; it was a place for the portraits to gather. The fourth wall had only the doors and one single portrait frame. It was as empty as the others they had passed, but the size and ornateness of the frame made it fairly obvious whose it was. Their eyes scanned all of the nicely dressed men, women and children until they all, one by one, came to rest on what must have been the focus of everyone's attention before they entered the room.

Right in the middle of the landscape right across from the door was an empty space with only two beings. A man in silver armor and a large red dragon. An Eastern Banded Ridgeback, according to Ron's whisper.

"Who art thou?" the man in armor boomed. He ignored the dragon he had been fighting, and it slunk away while his back was turned. "How did thee enter?"

Neville stepped forward bravely. "I opened the door," he said.

The spirit portrait raised his visor. "And who art thou to be able to open Godric's Keep, which no one hath been able to do for centuries?"

"I'm Neville Longbottom," he answered. "And I'm descended from every one of Godric Gryffindor's children.

The portrait stared at him, a considering expression on his face. "Aye, that wouldst work, wouldst it not? I must admit, I had not considered that possibility."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, when it seemed no one else was going to.

"When I had set the wards upon this Keep, I did not take as much care as I should have. I did not consider that within generations, there wouldst not be enough of my blood within my heirs to enter unto their ancestral home. I must admit, I did not believe any wouldst ever enter this place again." He carefully looked over them all, and a surprised expression crossed his face. "It seemeth as though Hogwarts hath become much more integrated than last I heard. It is good to see that the enmity between Salazar and myself hath not extended beyond ourselves."

"Oh, it did," Harry smirked. "But I've never been one to follow the rules, and I'm not going to let anyone tell me who my friends are." Everyone who'd known him since he first entered Hogwarts stared at him incredulously. He blushed. "Well, not since I grew up anyway," he admitted. "Besides, it didn't really have anything to do with Houses. Ron was my first friend and Draco was a prat. Even if Ron had gone to Slytherin and Draco to Gryffindor, I would have felt the same."

He ignored both of the boys' shudders of disgust at the idea. They might be friends... sort of, but they didn't even want to consider being in each other's House.

Draco looked up at the portrait. "You know, you're not quite what I was expecting, at least from Lord Slytherin and Lady Ravenclaw's description."

"Thou believed I wouldst be angry at this invasion by those not of my family or House?" Godric suggested.

"At the very least," Draco agreed.

"It hath been almost five hundred years since I hath seen anyone not of these portraits. At this point, I wouldst gladly speak to Salazar himself."

"Do you want to come back to Hogwarts with us?" Ron blurted out. "We've already found Slytherin's and Ravenclaw's portraits, and they're living at the school. We haven't gotten Hufflepuff's yet, but we'll be looking for her next."

Godric looked at all the people in the paintings around him, and regretfully shook his head. "I canst not leave all my friends."

"Gryffindors and their chivalry," Severus and Lucius groaned with identical voices.

All four of the currently alive Gryffindors spun around to glare at the older Slytherins. With one accord, they pouted.

The two Slytherins just looked at them, eyebrows raised. "Was there something you wanted?" Lucius asked.

Godric chuckled at the interaction, but there was a certain sadness behind it. The portraits he lived with were nice enough, especially since his great-great-grandson had created this room for them, at his *suggestion*, after Godric had become a painting himself. Still, none of them were spirit portraits and as such they did not have the full breadth of personality, imagination and presence that humans, ghosts and spirit portraits had. These newcomers had brought with them a breath of fresh air, and he knew he would miss interacting with true people, even this slight bit, when they were gone. The other portraits had been fading away, graying out, their colors leaving them, until he had instituted these get-togethers. If he left the Keep, it would not be long before they all faded out of existence. He would not accept that. They had been together for too many years.

"Is there a way to change the wards?" the bushy haired girl, the only female Gryffindor of the group, asked.

"Without my blood, I truly dost not know," Godric admitted. "Perhaps... if mine heir is a mage?"

Neville shook his head with downcast eyes and Godric sighed.

"He might not be one, but he's got access to four, right here," Harry spoke up, moving forward. "Would that help?"

"Gryffindors?" Godric asked hopefully.

Harry shook his head sharply. "I'm the only Gryffindor. Oh, my name is Harry Snape, by the way. My husband, Lucius Malfoy, is the Heir of Slytherin, and my adopted father, Severus Snape, is the Heir of Ravenclaw," he nodded to each of them as he named them.

"Doth that mean thou art Hufflepuff's?" Godric asked.

"Nope," Ron answered proudly for him when he looked as if he'd let it go with a headshake. "Merlin's."

"Interesting," was all the original Gryffindor answered. He came to a decision. With no more hesitation, he moved from the big canvas, to his smaller one. It swung open. "Come in," he invited.

Slowly, the students moved toward the hole in the wall. O'Feahr moved in front quickly. Once again, none of the adults were allowing the children to go anywhere they had not gone first.

Once they all had entered the room, which seemed to be a small study, Godric looked at the Tuatha de Danaan. "Are you a teacher?" he asked.

Connor nodded. "Defense Against the Dark Arts," he admitted. He nodded over to the black-haired adult. "Professor Snape is the Potions teacher."

"And the rest of thee?" Godric asked.

Neville gasped. "I'm sorry, I completely forgot!" He quickly ran through the introductions.

Godric greeted them all politely. He then nodded towards a book that had been left upon one of the side tables. "That speaks of the creation of the Keep and all of the spells and wards I placed upon it. If there truly is an answer, it should be within that journal."

Severus spoke up. "How did you keep this place concealed for so long?" he asked. "As far as I am aware, no one has any idea where it is, but it is too large to be completely concealed under invisibility charms. I, myself, have been to Godric's Hollow, and although Salazar assures us that's where the Keep is, I have never seen any sign of it."

Godric smiled. "Why doth Godric's Hollow bear that name?"

Severus responded to the Founder, covering a look could that only be recognized as 'confused' if you knew him well. "I believe it is because the town was built within a depression between hills."

"Let us just say that Godric's Hollow is only surrounded by two hills, not three," Godric admitted.

Severus actually looked impressed. "I would not expect such cunning from a Gryffindor," he said reflexively.

"Dad!" Harry groaned.

Part 45/?

Everyone quickly found something to do. Hermione and Severus worked together on the journal. Roan and Connor both wanted to join them, but it was very difficult for more than two people to read a book at the same time. Instead, they searched through the rest of the library and quickly found interesting books, as did most of the rest of the group. Ron and Ehlana weren't into books as much as their peers, but both easily found things to interest them. Ron found a very old and crotchety wizarding chess set and settled down to play against them. He'd found that playing against the really old sets was one of the best ways to learn new strategies that hadn't been in play for centuries. Ehlana went looking through the artifacts on display and it wasn't long until she was calling out excitedly for the older Tuatha de Danaan. She had found several artifacts that she was sure had originally come from Underhill.

Godric watched the activity around him with an almost melancholy air. He hoped these new people would be able to do what they were obviously hoping to be able to do. His privacy was one thing, but five hundred years of loneliness had proved he needed to rethink his position on that particular issue. Not having anything really to do, he just watched. As such, he was the first one to notice when the black-haired Gryffindor's... what was his name? The Heir of Merlin... ah, Harry Snape, that was it... enthusiasm started to flag. He thought he was the only one to notice when he went from wandering around the room examining everything, to pulling out a book and settling on the couch, to curling up next to the one he'd called his husband and letting his eyes drift shut. Then he realized he couldn't be the only one, because as the boy's eyelids got heavier the noise level in the room got lower.

Lucius gently moved Harry until he was lying curled up with his head on his lap. Connor came over with a blanket he'd conjured, but waited for permission before laying it over the sleeping boy. He looked up and his eyes caught Severus' across the room. He was surprised to find approval in those dark black eyes. It was the first time he'd ever received more than a grudging acceptance from the other professor. He smiled back slightly before going back to his research.

Lucius gently laid his hand on Harry's head, petting his hair tenderly. He frowned, however, as he gauged the amount of magic in his young husband.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked, ready to move over to his son immediately if it was necessary.

"He's more depleted than he should be," Lucius said softly, though his voice could be heard by everyone in the room. That wasn't really difficult, since no one else was talking; everyone was listening to be sure their friend was alright.

"Is the child pregnant?" Godric asked.

Lucius' gaze pinned the portrait immediately. Although Gryffindor was much different than they'd expected, he still remembered what the others had said about his prejudices. If this was one of them, he'd make sure that the painting never left this room. "Yes, he is," he admitted, glaring coldly.

Godric just nodded. "He does not consider this place to be safe," he said. "My fourth son did have that same problem. He had accidentally absorbed some residue of a cursed magic and it almost hurt his child. After that, he would only pull magic from places and people he was absolutely positive were safe. It was not a studied reaction, and it took us much time to figure out why he wouldst be so drained. If the boy spends at least a small amount of time each day in a place he considers safe, he will be fine. Or if thyself or his father can spare magic for him, that will help as well. I assume that Hogwarts is his safe place?"

"I seriously doubt it," Draco drawled. "It's probably either the Manor or Salazar's chambers in Hogwarts. But the last Headmaster was worse than the Dark Lord, and we know he used aura magic on us when we were unconscious. There's no way he would consider any place Dumbledore had been to be safe."

"How long hath it been since he last was at this Manor?" Godric asked.

"A couple of months," Draco admitted.

"And how long hath it been since there has been a problem with the magic around him?"

All those listening looked at each other. "Well," Connor finally said. "I... um... mistakenly took him to Underhill about three weeks back," he admitted.

"Thou art of the Tuatha de Danaan?" Gryffindor asked, surprised.

"I am," Connor agreed.

"Doth Nuada still lead your people?" He asked. "It hath been many years since I last spoke to Silverhand."

"I will send him your regards the next time I send back a report, if you wish," O'Feahr offered.

"That wouldst be most kind," Godric answered. He turned back to the discussion they had been having. "If young Harry hath not been back to the Manor of which thee speak in months, it is not the place wherefrom he gathers his strength. Mayhap it is Salazar's chambers. If it is, he needs to spend some amount of time there each day."

"That's not a problem," Severus murmured. "It's his favorite place in the castle right now."

"So," Blaise asked with a grin, "is it his favorite place because he feels safe and can gather magic there, or does he feel safe and magical there because it's his favorite place?"

If anyone had been close enough, he would have been bopped on the head for that, but he'd shown great foresight in being far away from anyone who might feel the need for that response.

"I needeth to check on my people, it will be but a moment, wilt thou be alright here by thyselves?"

"We'll be fine," Lucius said dismissively. Godric nodded and disappeared.

"It's his favorite place because it's the only place he can get away from himself," Lucius reminded the Slytherin.

Blaise nodded. "You know, if he wants to go out as Jade, I can take him. I'd protect him with my life."

Lucius and Severus shook their heads simultaneously. "As good a dueler as you might be, you're not a mage, and he's not going out with but a single Slytherin for protection. Even if no one knows who he is."

"You know, I still don't really understand why he feels the need to dress up like a girl sometimes, but we could always say that Jade is my foster sister. It would explain why no one knows who she is, and would even allow Draco to take us out on the town without anyone thinking anything of it." Ehlana offered.

"It wouldn't explain why I went to the ball with Lucius," Harry put in with a yawn. Everyone looked at him in surprise. Not even Lucius, whose lap he was using, had known he was awake.

"Perhaps it would," Connor said slowly. "After all, as a foster daughter to a Goddess of the Sidhe, Jade would be an envoy from a separate world, would she not? As such, does na it make sense that the Minister, lacking a date of his own, would take her to the ball?"

"Perhaps her safety was placed in his hands?" Hermione suggested thoughtfully, finally looking up from the book she was reading. "As such, it would be up to Mr. Malfoy to make sure she was safe and happy, thereby giving him an excuse for taking her places... when Harry is busy of course. Especially, if Draco and Ehlana went along with him. That way it wouldn't be construed as a date."

Harry slowly sat up and looked at her, considering. "We'd have to have a good reason for Harry not to be with him, and there couldn't be any public displays, but I can do that as Harry now, so that won't be too bad. I'd love to be able to get out of the castle... maybe go see Jeri and the girls..." Everyone could hear the longing in his voice.

"We will work something out," Lucius promised. He couldn't hear that tone in his lover's voice and say anything else.

Harry reached up and gently kissed his husband, then smiled happily at him before settling back down, laying his head on Lucius' lap and snuggling into the blanket covering him before falling back to sleep.

Part 46/?

Several hours later, they reluctantly left the Keep. They hadn't found any answers to the current problem, but they were not the type to give up before finding a solution. They would be back. They all promised to Godric they would return, before reluctantly leaving. Soon there was no sign they had ever been there, except a half-played chess game, and a sparkle of hope in an old portrait's eyes.

"Did you find the old reprobate?" Salazar asked as they exited the portal. He seemed disappointed to find they had not brought his picture back with them. There might even have been a hint of worry on his visage.

Harry nodded. "He didn't want to leave the other paintings." He glared at the Slytherin Founder. "He was very nice. Not at all like you described him."

"I never said he wasn't nice, just that he was a bit... stiff." Salazar argued.

"Well, we quite enjoyed meeting him," Hermione announced. She turned to the other portrait that had been waiting for them. "Do you have anything about wards in your library? We need to try to reset the wards so that Neville isn't the only one that can open the door." The two of them set off down the corridor, starting to pass ideas back and forth about the possibilities. Roan dropped a kiss on his boyfriend's lips and rushed off to join them.

Most of the other students turned to stare at Blaise. He just looked back and raised one eyebrow. "Was there something you wanted?"

"When did you move to kissing?" Harry burst out. "And why didn't you tell us?"

"Come on, Blaise, we want details," Draco agreed immediately. He might be straight male, but he could be as gossip hungry as anyone.

The students started walking down the hall, still bothering the Slytherin teen. They wouldn't give up until they had all the interesting bits, but knowing Blaise, he would be able to hold them off for a while.

Connor looked at the two adult Slytherins he had been left with, and decided it was time to take his own leave. "I be needin' to send word to my king," he suggested.

Lucius and Severus watched with restrained smiles as the DADA professor headed away from them at a fast clip.

"What are you planning for tomorrow?" Severus asked.

Lucius frowned thoughtfully. Tomorrow was going to be the first time he and Harry were out in public as a couple. He couldn't do anything with Harry that he'd already done with Jade, the last thing they needed was a correlation drawn between the two. "We're definitely going to end up at the Golden Lyre; I've been wanting to take him there for months. As for the rest of the day, I haven't spoken with him about it yet, but I was considering taking him to Mytholious Garden."

Severus nodded. "He would enjoy that, I believe. Of course, he's probably never even heard of it."

"There is that," Lucius considered. "Perhaps I should leave it as a surprise."

"For more than one reason," Severus responded humorously. "If he knew, he'd probably feel it necessary to invite the rest of his group, since most of them have probably never been, either."

"You have a point," Lucius agreed. "Even Draco has only ever been once, and that was four years ago. I believe I will keep it a secret. I do not wish tomorrow to turn into a field trip."


	14. Half of 46, 47 and 48

Sorry! Sorry! I forgot yesterday was Monday *looks sheepish*.

46 (half of it anyway)

The next morning, Harry portkeyed into Malfoy Manor. He looked around happily. In the month he'd lived there, the mansion had become as much a home as Hogwarts, and he'd missed it while he was gone. He settled into the dragonhide chair in which he'd spent so much time, even though it was usually on his husband's lap. He took off his cloak and laid it over the back of the chair even as he summoned a book he'd been reading before school started. Ten minutes later, he was interrupted.

"Enjoying yourself?" Lucius' voice swept over him unexpectedly. That, perhaps more than anything else, proved how much at home Harry felt. Nowhere else, except perhaps his father's rooms, did he let his normal paranoia down so much that he could be snuck up on. He smiled brightly up at his lover.

"Yes, I am," he admitted. He stood up, noticing that Lucius was dressed to go out. "Where are we going?"

"Have you ever heard of Mytholious Garden?" Lucius asked.

Harry thought for a moment before shaking his head. "No," he admitted. "What is it?"

"You'll see," Lucius smirked. He picked up Harry's cloak and held it out to his husband. Harry allowed him to settle it across his shoulders, and they headed out.

Lucius held out a portkey for Harry to touch. He had stopped by the Garden the night before to pick it up. They could have reached it by flooing, but he did not think Harry would appreciate starting the day out by getting sick, and the effects of flooing was still one of the things that the house elf's tea could not counteract.

Once they reached their destination, Harry looked around, wondering where they were. There didn't seem to be anything there. They were standing in front of a large hedge that reached several feet above even Lucius' head. Suddenly the hedge opened, and a wizard walked out to greet them, dressed in brown robes that seemed to be a cross between formal and functional.

"Minister Malfoy!" he greeted jovially. "How nice to see you! And you as well, Mister Snape. Welcome to Mytholious Garden."

"What is this place?" Harry asked, confused.

"You've never heard of us?" the wizard asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Lucius told him, his voice holding a warning.

The wizard immediately smiled once more. "Of course, of course. Please, enter. Everything is ready."

They stepped inside the towering hedge, and Harry looked around expectantly. All he saw was a rolling plain. The only thing he could say for sure about the seemingly endless sea of green and brown was that he didn't believe there was land like that anywhere in England or Scotland. Perhaps they were in Ireland?

"Do you wish to walk or take the float?" the greeting wizard asked.

Lucius looked at his husband, considering. "We will begin by walking, I think. However, have the float nearby, in case we change our mind."

"Of course, Minister," the man said graciously. "Please keep within the designated area. We cannot assure your safety if you tread off of the enchanted path. We also ask that you refrain from feeding the animals... either purposefully or inadvertently."

"Feed the..." Harry gasped. His eyes went wide with delight. "Is this a zoo?"

"We prefer the term 'mythological animal park'" the wizard offered.

"A wizard's zoo," Harry realized.

"As you say, Mr. Snape," the wizard was not going to argue with such an important personage.

"There are rest stops along the way, as well as places to eat, if you become hungry," the wizard decided to get through the rest of his spiel. "The float can be called by simply pressing this button." He handed the device to Lucius, who placed it in a pocket on his cloak. "An alarm will sound if you step off of the path. This is for your own safety; some of the creatures here do not like humans. The path itself is hidden from them, as is anything on it, so you don't have to worry about scaring them off... as long as you stay on the path. There are certain habitats where the creatures are friendly and enjoy being petted. In those cases, you will be informed as you enter the habitat..." His voice trailed off.

Lucius had been paying more attention to his husband than the spiel; he had, after all, heard it before. He noticed the guide had stopped his instruction, and looked over at him. The wizard was standing there with his eyes wide and focused on Harry. Lucius was about to reprimand him…severely… when he realized that it wasn't his husband the guide was staring at, but the snake whose head had poked out of Harry's collar.

"Is that..." the wizard gasped, unbelieving.

"What?" Harry asked, confused. He looked down to see Flick's head sticking out of his collar. "Oh, Flick? She's mine." Flick slithered out all the way and wrapped around Harry's upper arm and neck.

"That's ... an Alaspinian minidrag!" the wizard finally blurted out.

"Yes, I know," Harry agreed. "Why? Do you have more of her kind here?"

"No." the wizard admitted. "They're almost impossible to capture, and completely impossible to keep."

"You must not have become friends with yours, then," Harry shrugged. "Is that it? Is there anything else we need to know, or can we go now?"

"Um..." the wizard had to take a minute to remember where he'd been. "Stay on the path... don't feed the animals... yes, that's pretty much it."

"Brilliant!" Harry shouted, using one of Ron's favorite expressions. "Let's go." He grabbed Lucius' hand and almost dragged him over to the start of the path.

Part 47/?

Five hours later, as Lucius watched Harry gently petting a baby gryphonette, he was delighted with how successful his surprise had been. The Mytholious Garden was nothing like a muggle zoo, as Harry had described them. No animals here would ever be kept in cages. Instead, they were in acre or larger, many times, much much larger, sized habitats made entirely of plants and animals from a specific region. Thanks to magic, they were able to recreate those habitats exactly, even down to temperature and soil composition. And there were no animals just sleeping the day away. In those habitats where most of the inhabitants were nocturnal, night and day had been switched, so it was the middle of their nights during the busiest times of the day for the Garden.

The path was enchanted, not only to be invisible to and safe from the animals they passed, but also to be impervious to the surrounding conditions. They'd been pleasantly cool as they walked through the desert and gawked at a sphinx and manticore battling playfully, and thankfully, dry as they'd stood deep under water to watch a kraken go by, and by, and by.

There was also a minor attraction spell just outside of the path that automatically turned itself on when the path was in use. As a result, any creatures nearby would come closer, allowing them to be better observed.

Every several habitats, there was a rest stop. There could be found eateries, souvenir shops and enclosures where some of the tamer and cuter animals could be petted and fed. Harry, of course, had demanded they stop at every one.

Normally, the gryphonette would never be one of those that could be petted. The adult gryphons were at the rest stop as a sideshow sort of exhibit. People found it fun to try to tell lies within their vicinity. They also peered, from what the mother considered a safe distance, at the cute, fluffy babies. The gryphons had taken one look at Harry and seemingly decided he was part of their pride. The mother had come over and chivied Harry over to her nest. He'd laughingly settled down to play with the kits as the mother ran her beak through his hair. Lucius had, reluctantly, been allowed closer than the other patrons, so he had a good seat to watch them play.

He frowned when he saw one of the little gryphons getting a little too rough, but before he could do more than take one step closer, the mother gryphon had already broken them up and was seemingly scolding the little one for playing too rough with their newest family member. Harry just laughed.

"Can you understand her?" Lucius asked.

Harry shrugged, but smiled. "I can't tell exactly what she's saying, but she's getting her point across well."

Lucius had to concede that was true. "We need to leave soon if you want to see the rest of the Garden before our dinner reservations."

Harry looked up, wide-eyed. "There's more? How big is this place? We've already been walking for miles!"

Lucius shook his head with a smile. "Space is subjective, you should know that. Of course, whether they compress space in a way most wizards have no way of copying, or if the junctions between habitats are actually portals and we *are* actually in those other places, hasn't been revealed to the public. But, yes, there are several more habitats, including one in which I think you'll be particularly interested."

Harry sighed at leaving his new friends, but couldn't keep the excitement from glinting in his eyes. They hadn't really *walked* very far, moving to the floats soon after the first rest stop. Still, the things they'd seen had been beyond amazing, and he really couldn't wait to see what else was around. After all, if Lucius said he'd enjoy it, he was sure he would.

Carefully, he extracted himself from the nest, giving the baby gryphons one last hug and fur rub and feather ruffle. He'd also hugged both the mother and the father, and then carefully moved to his husband's side. The last thing either of them wanted was for the large animals to think Lucius was taking him away. Those animals were big, and Harry knew first-hand how much damage those beaks and claws could do, especially when backed by about two hundred pounds of pure muscle.

They made it away without incident, and both breathed sighs of relief, sighs copied by the half a hundred people currently watching them.

Although they had started out the day alone, that had quickly changed. Now, there were sightseers practically everywhere on the paths and in the rest stops. Harry hadn't let go of Lucius' hand through the first two habitats, but upon seeing others at the first rest stop, he'd tried to let go. Lucius wasn't having any of it. Yes, the main reason they were here was to enjoy themselves, but the second purpose was to be seen as a couple. Besides, he *liked* the warm pressure of Harry's hand in his, the way his young husband would tug him forward in excitement as he saw another new animal or plant species.

Regardless of what the muggleborn had told him, he had no intention of indulging in 'public displays of affection' Kissing and the like were for more private venues. However, he told himself, keeping one hand on his husband at all times, was simply prudent, considering the young man's propensity for getting into trouble. He might even have believed himself.

Luckily, not many had dared go against his lethal glare when he saw anyone getting too close. They'd managed to spend most of the day relatively undisturbed. Watched, always, but mostly unbothered.

They walked and floated through several more venues before they came to the one Lucius had been anticipating. It was one of the most breathtaking scenes in the zoo, and considering the wonders they had already seen, this would be nothing short of impressive.

Harry hissed in a breath, as it suddenly seemed as if they were standing on air. He looked down quickly to find they were standing on the very tip of a tall mountain. And in the air all around them were almost every type of flying creature imaginable.

They watched what seemed to be a wonderfully choreographed aerial ballet. Feathered, scaled and furred, bat-winged, butterfly-winged and bird-winged; the number of different species was mindboggling. Harry leaned back against Lucius' chest and wrapped the older man's arms around him. He felt as if his husband's arms were the only things keeping him grounded, as his soul soared into the air to join in the dance. His eyes drank in the beautiful sight as he yearned for the ability to change and let his own wings take him up into the pure, clear air.

Harry had no idea how long they stood there watching, but finally, Lucius gently drew him away. Harry never even noticed, as they walked on seemingly nothing but air from mountaintop to mountaintop, until finally they reached yet another rest stop. This time, Lucius led him to an isolated cabana and settled down into the lounge chair stationed there, pulling Harry down after him and settling him on his lap.

He looked down, surprised to find tears welling in his lover's eyes, and gently rolling down his cheeks. "Is everything alright?" Lucius asked softly, tenderly brushing away a new fallen tear.

"It was so beautiful," Harry murmured. "So free. I wanted to be up there, dancing with them... Why do they do that?"

"No one knows," Lucius admitted. "I wasn't sure they were going to today, but I was told that chances were good. It's one of the reasons I brought you here."

Harry suddenly, almost violently, twisted around. "Thank you!" he said, throwing his arms around Lucius' neck. "Thank you so much! This has been one of the most wonderful days of my life. And that... that was just ... just... so beyond brilliant, I don't have the words to describe it. I saw things flying there I never dreamed existed. And they were all together, all united, caring about nothing except the wind and their wings, and the dance, the flight and the freedom."

"Did you want to be up there, with them?" Lucius asked, trying to ignore the heaviness in his own heart. He was glad he'd given his lover such an experience, but it was leading places he didn't want to go. If Harry loved freedom that much, how long would it be until he flew away, feeling the need to spread his own wings and take off into the air on his own?

"More than almost anything," Harry sighed. He smiled softly, his hand reaching up to rest against Lucius' cheek. "There's only one place in the entire world where I feel freer than in the air."

"Where's that?" Lucius asked carefully.

"Right here," Harry snuggled down, making sure he was touching his lover with as much of himself as he could. "In your arms, is the best place in the world for me."

Part 48/?

There were still several more habitats to go, but they decided to forgo them this time. Lucius promised they would be back but he knew that after that last experience, the others would seem bland by comparison and lose most of their wonder for Harry. They didn't deserve that, for they truly were wonderful in their own way. He would bring Harry back when the memory had faded a bit.

They headed home and ... rested... for a bit, before Harry went back to Salazar's rooms to change. All he'd been told about dinner was to dress in formal clothes that he could dance in. He finally decided on black slacks with a shiny, silver silk shirt and an overrobe that was more like a long vest. It was sleeveless and buttoned down to his trousers, leaving the rest free to his shoes. The back of the vest was embroidered with a silver and white phoenix rising from hot blue flames that seemed to flicker.

The Golden Lyre was yet another unbelievable experience for one who hadn't grown up in the wizarding world. Of course, even for those who had grown up there, it was a delight. Living up to its name, the Golden Lyre was a place of music. The stones on the floor of the foyer were enchanted to chime with each step. The charm was an advanced one, so Harry's, Lucius' and the maitre d's steps always seemed to harmonize, never to clash.

Once inside, you were able to choose your table by the instrument. Lucius chose the harp, and they were led to a small, intimate booth with a small harp playing itself gently in one corner. As the dinner progressed, Harry noticed the music shifting. It seemed to depend on a number of factors, such as the course of the meal being served, the tone of conversation, and even the mood. Harry played with it for a while, trying out different tones of voice and seeing how the music changed. He soon got tired of that and turned back to his husband.

"Have I told you yet how much I've enjoyed today?" he asked with a smile.

"Just once or twice," Lucius answered back in the same tone.

Harry looked up as something caught the corner of his eye. It took him a few moments to realize what he was seeing. It was a small... baby? with a three-stringed instrument and feathery white wings.

"Um?" Harry nodded his head towards it, wordlessly asking what it was.

Lucius frowned. "You've never seen a cherub before? I thought muggles new something about them."

Harry blinked. "Oh, is that what it is?" He nodded. "Yes, I remember seeing them now, on Valentine's cards and the like." He sighed.

"What's the matter?" Lucius asked.

Harry shrugged. "It just seems as if every time I think I've learned a lot about the wizarding world, I just find out how much more I don't know, and still have to learn. Am I ever going to figure it all out?"

"Does it matter?" Lucius asked softly. "You know everything you really need to know, and anything else, your friends and family will readily explain to you. Or, knowing you, you will search until you find whatever answers you're seeking."

"Don't you get tired of having to explain everything?" Harry asked.

Lucius actually laughed out loud. "Everything?" He shook his head and nodded towards the cherub still flying around. "That was perhaps the second such question you've asked me today. I don't think *everything* is quite the correct word."

"It seems like it, sometimes," Harry admitted.

"You always are harder on yourself than any one else," Lucius said softly. "Don't you think perhaps Ms. Granger or Ehlana feel the same way?"

"Oh, come on, 'Mione always knows everything anyway, and Ehlana grew up with magic."

"Ms. Granger knows everything because she's scared of coming across something she doesn't know, so she has studied everything she can get her hands on," Lucius offered. "And Ehlana might have grown up with magic, but it was a magic much different from what she's living with now." He could tell Harry wasn't completely convinced, but the subject was dropped for the moment.

The rest of the dinner was simply pleasant conversation, and once their meal had settled enough, they got up to dance. The dance floor was much like the rest of the restaurant, a myriad of music. It soon became impossible to tell if they were moving to the music, or the music was following their movements. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

By the time Harry'd had enough of dancing, they were more than ready to go home. And it was not necessarily because they were tired. However, their wonderful night was about to be disrupted.

"Minister Malfoy! Minister Malfoy!" a voice called from behind them.

They turned to find Thistlewaite standing there.

Lucius frowned in a way that would make Death Eaters quail in fear.

The reporter paled, but stood his ground. "I'm sorry sir, but this is important. It's about what Dumbledore is up to. You *really* need to hear this, right now."

Lucius matched gazes with his husband, then suddenly reached out and grabbed Thistlewaite's arm; simultaneously Disapparating them from the restaurant. Harry followed immediately after.

"Explain," Lucius ordered, as soon as they were all safe in the Manor.

"I've felt there was something wrong with the way Marnier has been acting," Thistlewaite began to explain.

Lucius nodded his understanding. "I would not have chosen him to become one of the reporters allowed to follow me, if he had acted then as he has been acting since. His writing also has not met his typical standard."

The reporter nodded. "I agree. We might not work for the same paper, but most reporters know how their rivals think and write, and Marnier has not been living up to that. Tonight I decided to find out why."

"You used Veritaserum on him?" Harry wondered.

"Something almost as good," he explained. "I got him drunk."

"And you found out about Dumbledore's plans that way?" Lucius growled.

Thistlewaite nodded. "It surprised me as well. According to Marnier, tomorrow morning, several newspapers will put out that your marriage is illegal because it wasn't signed by your guardian."

"But Severus did sign it," Harry said, confused.

"That's just it, they're saying your adoption is illegal too. Marnier said that according to your parents will, Dumbledore is actually your legal guardian, and therefore, he had to agree to your adoption," he explained.

"That makes no sense," Harry disagreed vehemently. "Not only did the Dursleys *raise* me, if you want to put it that way, but Dumbledore himself said that Uncle Vernon had to sign my Hogsmeade letter, and that no one else could do it, because it had to be signed by my guardian."

"All I'm telling you is what Marnier said," Thistlewaite explained. "The weird thing is that Marnier seems convinced that, if it's true, Dumbledore might actually be able to get custody of you."

"What?" Harry screamed.


	15. Chapter 49, 50, 51 and 52

I never did say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, did I? Ah well. Happy New Year! ^_^

Part 49/?

"That's impossible," Lucius said immediately. "Even *if* Dumbledore were legally Harry's guardian, the rights of guardianship would have been dissolved immediately upon his arrest and escape. Especially since the charges against him stemmed, first and foremost, from his mistreatment of Harry. Upon such time, with no acceptable family, Harry would have become a ward of the Ministry; in which case, my signature upon his adoption paperwork was all that was necessary to make the adoption legal."

"Except that he was not arrested until after the adoption." Thistlewaite reminded them.

"It doesn't matter," Lucius told him. "There is no way Dumbledore could possibly get custody of Harry at this point."

"You got that right," Harry growled. They looked over at him, and Thistlewaite found himself warily retreating. Harry's anger was almost palpable. He'd almost swear that Harry's eyes were glowing,

Lucius did feel the anger. Ever since Harry's rage had ignited Severus' and Draco's fury, they'd worked at making sure it wouldn't happen again. Each of them had developed a greater sensitivity to the 'flavor' of power being put out by one another, and had learned how to keep that power from influencing themselves.

"Harry, calm yourself," Lucius ordered.

Harry glared at him, but Lucius calmly stared him down, waiting until he saw his husband take a deep breath and pull the magical energy back into himself.

"There is also the fact," Lucius said to them both, "that we were not actually married. It was only a Promise Ceremony. All that was necessary for that to be legal, was for Harry to be of age, which he was." Changing his main focus, more specifically addressing Harry, yet still clearly including Thistlewaite in his audience, he continued, "Although, Harry, you would still be technically under your guardian's control until you are eighteen, at your age, you do have certain rights. In cases in which the minor is an orphan, or has major problems with his parents, and there is someone of acceptable reputation who is willing to take responsibility, the minor has the ability to choose the guardian."

"Maybe we should let him get custody," Harry muttered.

Lucius turned on him. "Would you care to repeat that?" he asked frostily.

"I said, maybe we should let him try," Harry seemed completely unimpressed with Lucius' tone of voice. "It would bring him out into the open. And if he tried to make me go with him, I would *definitely* make him regret it." Harry's expression was a match for Lucius', and Thistlewaite backed away even more.

"Get that thought out of your head, right now," Lucius ordered. "You will not risk yourself like that, nor will you risk our child!"

Harry's head flew back as his hands went to his stomach. "I wouldn't!"

"Have you forgotten that the old man seems to have a vendetta against our child? That it was by his machinations, that Madam Pomfrey gave you that abortifacient? That he left that prophecy for you to read, and he seems to believe it?" Lucius' voice was even, but the words hit hard.

Harry lowered his eyes, conceding the points.

Lucius stared at him for another moment, until he was sure Harry understood, before turning back to the reporter. "Which newspapers?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "All Marnier said was that it was several papers."

"It doesn't make any sense," Harry said, thinking now. "You're right. He's an escaped convict; he couldn't get guardianship of me even if you weren't Minister of Magic. As it is, any change in my guardianship would have to go through you, and no one would believe you'd do that, even in the extremely unlikely event it was legal," he ended with a grin. He suddenly frowned. "Unless... what if something happened to you? Who would be in charge then?"

Lucius shook his head. "Arthur Weasley is currently my second. It would not help Dumbledore."

"Unless he's got a hold on Mr. Weasley that he doesn't have on you," Harry reminded him.

"I think you both are forgetting one other group of people," Thistlewaite tentatively suggested. "The public."

"How do you mean?" Harry asked, tilting his head inquisitively.

"There are still a lot of people who don't believe Dumbledore actually did what he's being accused of. They're sure there *must* be a logical explanation for everything that happened. Unfortunately, the most likely explanation is that Mr. Malfoy set him up. You can't ignore the fact that there is still an extremely large number of people who will believe that Harry would be much better off as a ward of Albus Dumbledore, than as the son of Severus Snape. After all, Professor Snape was once a Death Eater, as were you, Mr. Malfoy. One thing that can be definitely said about Dumbledore is that he was never a Death Eater, rather, he fought against them all of his life. When it comes down to it, his crimes would be considered much less than yours. If an election was forced now... and Dumbledore ran against you..."

They contemplated that for a moment.

"There's also some question being raised about what happened to the Dursleys. It seems they have disappeared. Right now, it's coming down to your word against his, and there have already been questions raised about young Mr. Snape here being... unduly influenced by yourself and his new father." Thistlewaite continued.

Harry looked as if he wanted desperately to hit something. He turned towards his husband. "What did you do with them? I know you had something to do with their disappearance."

"Don't worry about it," Lucius said dismissively. "They can be found if it becomes necessary."

Harry thought about calling him on that, but let it go. He flopped down into a nearby chair and turned a dismal glare on the reporter. "You know, this had been an almost perfect day. I should have known something would come along to turn it to crap."

Lucius walked over and lay his hand on Harry's shoulder. Thistlewaite dropped his eyes, "I'm sorry I had to bring you this news…" he started.

Harry waved his hand. "Getting it now is better than having it broadside us in the morning, but why couldn't the old reprobate have waited until another weekend so he didn't have to ruin this one?" He pouted slightly. "When I get my hands on that old man, he's really going to regret ruining our date."

Lucius smiled down on him. "Why don't you go on back to Hogwarts? There's really nothing you can do right now. I'll try to counter it, but it might take me all night."

Harry wanted to argue, but he understood. He sighed, but agreed. "All right. I'll talk to the others, see if we can come up with anything to help." He looked up at the clock. "Or then again, I guess I can just talk to dad, since everyone else should be in their dorms by now. Stupid curfew." He hesitated before reaching for his emblem portkey. "Are you sure..."

To Thistlewaite, watching, it seemed as if Harry was asking Lucius if he was sure he wanted him to go. The two involved however, knew differently. The question being asked was a much more serious one. In truth, the black-haired boy was asking if he was sure they could trust Thistlewaite and the news he had brought. As much as they might happen to like the reporter, he was still very much an unknown quantity, and he had not completely won either of their trust.

"As sure as I can be, at this point," Lucius answered.

Harry accepted it as being the only response Lucius could give. They were basing a lot on the word of a virtual stranger, and just because he had written nice articles about them, did not mean he actually felt that way. Harry caught Lucius' hidden glance at their rings and nodded ever so slightly. He would keep a close watch on that piece of jewelry. Hopefully, it would at least give him some warning if something went wrong.

They kissed slowly, intensely, before regretfully drawing away from each other. With one last glance, Harry portkeyed away and Lucius turned towards his guest.

"Let's get to work," he ordered.

Part 50/?

Harry wandered slowly into his father's chambers. Severus had been reading a new potions book with some very interesting suggestions for the use of mugwort to lengthen the storage life of certain types of poisons. He immediately put it down however, upon seeing his son coming in.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. He looked at the clock. "I didn't expect you home this early. Truthfully I didn't expect you back tonight at all."

"Something came up," Harry answered as he flopped down on a nearby couch. He was planning on telling Severus everything that happened, but didn't really want to. It would make it too real.

Severus seemed to understand without another word being said. He walked over and settled down on the couch next to him. "Did you go to the Garden?"

Harry's face lit up immediately, and the worry that had been there seemed to miraculously disappear. "It was so wonderful! I've never seen anything like it. It was so completely different than the zoo I went to before I started Hogwarts. It completely blew me away." He started to describe everything he had seen and waxed poetic over the flying animals.

"Where did you go afterwards?" Severus asked, drawing him out.

"The Golden Lyre," Harry told him. Again he described, in detail, everything they had done.

Severus listened with a slight smile over the excitement and happiness obvious in every word that almost exploded out of Harry's mouth as his hands flew around, as he tried to show where everything was and how it all felt.

Then the boy's expression darkened.

"What happened next?" Severus asked. "It sounds like you had a wonderful time; I would expect you to still be at the manor, having a wonderful time in a way you won't be telling me about."

Harry laughed slightly and shook his head. "We probably would have, but Thistlewaite showed up."

"The reporter? What did he want?" Severus prodded.

"He said he got Marnier drunk... and that in the morning..."

"In the morning..." Severus encouraged.

"Some of the newspapers are going to come out and say that the adoption isn't legal," Harry said quickly. "That Dumbledore was legally my guardian at the time, so the paper signed by the Dursleys isn't legal... and that Dumbledore should get custody of me because he's not an ex-Death Eater."

Severus was silent for a moment, but Harry, looking up through his lashes, could see the anger building in his face. "What?" he hissed.

"That's what I said," Harry said with a strained grin. "Lucius is convinced it can't happen, but Thistlewaite thinks that a lot of the public will believe it. Especially if they come out and say that the charges against Dumbledore were trumped up by you and Lucius because you wanted control of me without him being able to stop you. Well, that's not exactly what he said, but that's what it's going to come down to."

"What is Lucius doing?" Severus asked in a tight, hard voice.

"I don't know exactly," Harry admitted. "He said he was going to try to stop it, but if it's as wide-spread as Thistlewaite said Marnier believes it to be, I don't think it's going to be possible."

"Dumbledore will not be coming near you," Severus swore.

"I agree," Harry sighed. "If it was just me, I'd be hunting him down or calling him out, but I won't risk the baby that way."

"Good," Severus said harshly. "We need a plan in place to get you away if necessary. The Manor would not be safe at that point."

"I know," Harry agreed, "but there's several places I could go. The main problem would be that I'd be almost by myself in two of them. There's no way they could get into the Chambers or the Keep, but it would be lonely, even if Madam Faire went with me."

"I disagree," Severus said thoughtfully. "There are a number of people here at school that know both of those places and how to get in. It wouldn't be that difficult to charm a snake to open the Chamber if they knew where it was, and Dumbledore is fully capable of finding out, as he is of forcing Neville to open the door to the Keep. Second choice?"

"Jade goes to live in Muggle London, or if necessary, even out of the country. I'd prefer it to be London simply because I have friends there, and only you, Lucius and Draco know where they live, but I can work something out elsewhere if necessary."

Severus nodded in understanding. "If you weren't pregnant, I would actually suggest Underhill."

"If I wasn't pregnant, it wouldn't come up," Harry reminded him. "I am surprised that you'd suggest that though, I thought you were almost rabidly anti-Sidhe." He grinned slightly.

"I am, as you say, anti- those incompetents who jump to conclusions and act rashly without all the facts. In fact, I would say O'Feahr was being extremely Gryffindor at the time," was Severus' answer.

"You're lightening up on him," Harry said happily. "About bloody time."

"Watch your language, young man," Severus replied.

Harry just stuck out his tongue and Severus fought back a smile.

"You know," Harry said thoughtfully after a minute. "I don't really understand why Dumbledore brought O'Feahr here. I mean, yeah, he talked him into taking me to Underhill... but why? He had to have some kind of basic reason there. He didn't know about Lucius, and he couldn't have known about the baby, and from things you said, he asked for the Sidhe's help even before he found out about the adoption. So why? There had to be more to his plan than what we've seen."

"When it comes to the old man, there usually is," Severus reminded him. "But I don't think anyone has ever figured out how he thinks or why he does half the things he does. Yes, he always has a plan, but it seems as if those plans are mostly incomprehensible to anyone not Albus Dumbledore." He slanted a look at the boy next to him. "You know, for a while I was convinced he was on something. I even snuck in and stole some of his lemon drops, just to see if they were laced with any potion or drug."

Harry burst out laughing. "I could see that! That damned twinkle he always had had to be the result of something! Did you find anything?"

Severus shook his head sadly. "Nothing," he admitted. "And I never was able to get an uncontaminated sample of his tea."

Harry laughed for a little while longer before going back to the problem at hand. "I don't want to have to run away and hide," he admitted.

"It's not exactly in your nature," Severus replied good humoredly. "And at this point, it is nothing but contingency plans. And there is nothing wrong with making those. I might even feel the need to disown you if you didn't have any." Severus pulled Harry into a half hug, wanting to make sure the occasionally insecure young man knew he was only joking. Harry snuggled down willingly, doing his own reassurance that he hadn't taken it the wrong way. "But if it is what is safest for my grandchild, then it is what you will do."

"And what are your contingency plans?" Harry asked, concerned.

"I have emergency portkeys set up for several different locations, all with a cover story already in place as well as the basics necessary for each one," Severus explained.

"Lucius has them as well?" Harry just wanted to be sure.

"As does Draco," Severus easily reassured him. He hesitated, but then decided to share one of the secrets of Slytherin House. "Every one of my children has a complete escape plan set up by the end of second year. It is one of the things I require of them. They also have to update it every year as well as check to make sure everything is still in working order. I also dictate that they must give it a full test at least once in either their sixth or seventh year. The sixth and seventh years also have plans in place for the first and second years."

Harry nodded his understanding. Sometimes he wished he had allowed the Sorting Hat to place him in Slytherin... and sometimes he was very glad he fought against it.

They talked for a while longer before heading to their beds for a tension filled, restless night.

Part 51/?

The bombshells started hitting early. Almost as soon as Harry walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, owls started dropping off papers all over. Harry still had his subscriptions to many different papers and so was ready as he was practically inundated with mail. In many ways it was every bit as bad as he had expected; it would have been devastating without the warning he'd been given. The only good thing was that most students still only received the Daily Prophet and the story in that paper wasn't nearly as bad as the others. It was probably still scared of getting sued... again.

Harry's friends quickly joined him as they came in and saw him at the middle table buried in papers and looking grim.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked as she sat down.

He silently handed her a paper.

Her eyes almost popped out of her head as she read the headline. 'HARRY POTTER'S MARRIAGE AND ADOPTION ILLEGAL'.

As the others joined he handed them papers as well. 'DUMBLEDORE INNOCENT?' 'HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS FRAMED' 'BOY-WHO-LIVED BEING USED'.

"What the bloody hell?" Ron shouted.

"Thistlewaite warned us this might be happening," Harry said as he ran his hand through his hair. "Still, I didn't expect it to be quite this... overwhelming."

"Can you give us an overview?" Draco asked.

"I haven't gone through them all, but from what I've seen they tend to be following one of two general trends," Harry explained. "Me or Dumbledore. If it's me, they're mainly saying that the Dursleys weren't actually my guardians, Dumbledore was, and as such both my adoption and marriage were illegal. If it's Dumbledore, they're saying that Lucius trumped up charges against him to try to get him out of the way... mostly because he'd try to separate me from Severus and Lucius."

"Why are they doing this?" Ehlana asked, worriedly.

"If they can convince enough of the public that the charges against Dumbledore were trumped up, they think they can get my custody passed to him," Harry explained.

Indrawn breaths were the only answer he received.

"Of course, if that ever did happen, I'd be out of here so fast they couldn't even track me with a tracer spell," Harry said with a grim smile.

"Alright, so what are our options... besides Harry going into hiding?" Draco asked the group as a whole.

There was silence for a long moment.

"What about Merlin?" Ehlana asked, frowning thoughtfully.

"How do you mean?" Blaise asked her, confused.

"Well, Harry is his Heir, right?"

Several people nodded in confirmation.

"Well, then couldn't he be Harry's guardian if necessary?"

"Nobody would give guardianship to a portrait, even if he *had* a spirit portrait and we knew where it was," Thyme reminded her.

Ehlana just blinked. "But... don't you become a spirit portrait under certain circumstances after you die?"

"Yes, of course," Roan said. "It requires a number of special spells to achieve," he started to explain.

"But Merlin's not dead," Ehlana interrupted.

There was total silence from everyone at the table.

"What do you mean, he's not dead?" Hermione asked, confused. "He's been dead for almost thirteen centuries."

"No, he's not," Ehlana disagreed. "He's on the Isle of Youth." She looked around at the shell-shocked expressions around her. "Isn't he?" she asked in a much smaller voice.

"I've never heard of anything like that," Draco said in disbelief.

"But..." she suddenly turned and looked up at the Head Table. "Professor O'Feahr!" she called.

Normally, it was exceptionally rare for a teacher to answer a student who'd to him called across the dinner tables, but seeing the expressions on the faces at the middle table, and knowing so well the one who called, Connor didn't hesitate to head over. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Isn't the Merlin who lives on the Isle of Youth the same one that used to live here in Overworld?" she asked him.

Connor glared at his young friend. "That is not supposed to get around; you know that," he remonstrated.

"But it might be necessary," Ehlana said, obviously not worrying about his reaction. "He'd take custody of Harry if it was the only way to keep him out of Dumbledore's clutches, wouldn't he?"

Connor reared back slightly. "What are you talking about?"

Papers were pushed over to the DADA Professor and he read through them quickly. Finally he looked around at the students gathered together. "Yes. If necessary, I'm sure he would. However, please remember that he does *not* wish to come back to Overworld. If at all possible, try to find another way around it. That is to be the *last* option, is that understood?"

There were nods all around from completely shocked teenagers. Ehlana just looked vindicated.

Severus walked up at that moment and looked around at the expressions on the students' faces. "Do I want to know?" he asked facetiously.

"I don't think so," Harry smiled slightly, eyes still wide with disbelief.

Severus just nodded. He looked down at the papers spread all over the table and frowned, but at least he'd had some warning. He looked back up. "Salazar had a suggestion," he told them.

"What's that?" Draco asked.

"He said that if all four of the Founders' portraits were at the school, Hogwarts would become a Sanctuary once more."

"Sanctuary?" came from everyone but the know-it-alls.

"The rules of Sanctuary are such that anyone who comes within Hogwarts and calls for sanctuary, once being granted it, cannot be removed from the school without their approval. Sanctuary has to be approved by the Founders, but Salazar said that they used to have several students each year who claimed it. It allowed them to stay at school all year long, even over breaks. It is illegal to pull anyone from Sanctuary, regardless of who asks for it, or why. It doesn't matter if the person demanding that the student be brought to him was the child's father, or the Minister of Magic himself, even the Headmaster or Headmistress. It would be not only illegal, but also impossible to take one under the protection of Sanctuary out of the school, without the child's permission. However, it would mean that you could not leave, under any circumstances, even to go to Hogsmeade," Severus explained.

"I could live with that for a while," Harry agreed reluctantly. If possible, it was a better choice than living on his own in London, or trying to find a thirteen hundred year old wizard who obviously wanted to stay lost. "However, that means we need to find Helga Hufflepuff's portrait as well as convince Godric to come back to the school for a while."

"I don't think that will be difficult," Neville spoke up. "If I explain what's happening and promise we'll take the portrait back to the Keep immediately once it's all over, I'm sure he'll come to help."

"Of course he would, he's a Gryffindor, is he not? Ridiculously noble is part of his description," Severus murmured.

Harry rolled his eyes. Did his father have to take *every* chance to snipe at Gryffindors? Then he smiled slightly. Of course he did, he was still Severus Snape, after all.

"Since Salazar was so forthcoming with an answer to our problem, did he also happen to mention where we might be able to find Hufflepuff's portrait?" Draco asked semi-mockingly.

"Actually, yes," Severus answered in the same tone of voice.

"So, when are we going?" Harry asked.

"'We' are not going anywhere," Severus responded sternly. "I have already sent an owl to Lupin, explaining where the portrait most likely is. Since he is her Heir, and it is not in Scotland, we are not going to be going anywhere near the place at this point." He manfully ignored the multiple pouts being turned his way.

"Um... Professor," Thyme nodded behind him. He turned to find Headmistress McGonagall standing behind him.

"There are reporters gathering at the gates," she said unhappily. "Is there anything that can be done about it?" she asked.

"Let them in," Harry ordered softly. "I want to talk to them." His voice might be soft, but his eyes were anything but.

Part 52/?

"Are you sure about that?" Severus asked softly.

"I'm becoming a professional at it," Harry muttered, but he nodded decisively. "I have some things I want to say. It might not make a difference in the end, but I'm going to say them, and they're going to listen."

"Alright, Mr. Snape," the Headmistress agreed reluctantly. "I'll allow it this time, but please do not make a habit of this. Where do you wish to talk to them?"

"In front of the school," Harry told her. "I'll talk to them from the steps."

Severus smirked at his son, understanding the psychological impact of the set up Harry was arranging. He was going to be standing higher than the reporters, with the school at his back, talking down on them from a position of strength. Most of the reporters wouldn't even realize that he'd have gotten their respect from the very first move. It wouldn't work for everyone, some were cynical, and would recognize it, but others would be subtly influenced.

"I do not want you out there alone," Severus commanded, even as he realized he couldn't be the one there. If he were there, people would start to say he was controlling Harry or telling him what to say. "Nor, at this point, do I wish it to be simply another student."

Harry nodded his understanding, then turned and smiled whimsically at his Head of House. "Would you stay with me?"

It almost looked like Professor McGonagall was about to blush, but that was silly, wasn't it?

"Of course, Harry, I would be quite pleased to join you," McGonagall said solemnly.

Harry's smile turned more real. "Thank you, Professor." He stood up and together they walked out of the Great Hall and to the front doors.

The doors opened as they approached and they strode out to stand upon the landing as the doors swung shut once more behind them.

Harry had drawn himself up to his full, although relatively short, height and watched impassively as almost a dozen people headed towards him from the gates. Obviously, not every paper had managed to send someone yet, but that was just too bad.

Harry's green eyes swept over them wordlessly and the reporters who were about to shout out questions found themselves abruptly silenced before their mouths even opened.

"I'm not taking questions," Harry's voice was easily heard by all. "I've tried that before and it doesn't seem to have done any good. I'm not going to argue about my choices or the decisions I have made. But I am sick and tired of all of you who seem to believe I don't know what I'm doing or am being led around by my nose. I'm talking to you here and now to get one thing clear. I will not allow anyone to threaten my family. Dumbledore is a threat to my family, and if he comes anywhere *near* me, I will deal with him myself." The complete evenness of his voice seemed to be all the more menacing.

"Dumbledore has proven himself to be a danger to my child. That I will not accept. At this point, I no more care that he's fought several Dark Lords, than I care that he left me with the Dursleys while ***knowing*** what my life was like in that house. Neither of those facts matters at the moment. ***All*** that matters now, is that Dumbledore has shown that he does not want my son to be born. He has shown himself willing to, and in fact once already has taken action to make sure it doesn't happen. He has compelled a ***mediwitch*** to try to murder my child in my womb. ***That*** I will neither accept nor tolerate. I will do what is necessary to protect my unborn baby. ***Anything*** that I feel is necessary."

His eyes swept over them again, seeming to bore into each and every one of them. "This is my warning to you. Anyone that I feel is responsible, in whole or in part, for putting my child in danger will be dealt with as harshly as I treat Dumbledore himself." Without another word, and never letting them speak, he turned on his heel and stalked back inside, leaving Headmistress McGonagall alone on the steps.

She looked at the shocked, silent reporters and cleared her throat calmly, bringing their attention off of the closed doors and onto her. "Although I do not agree with the way Mr. Snape addressed you, I find I can agree with what he has said. Family is the most important thing in the world to that young man, and while both his husband and his father can take care of themselves, the child he is carrying cannot."

"I myself find it very difficult to believe all of the things that Albus Dumbledore has been charged with, but I also cannot deny what I have seen and heard with my own senses. Perhaps, as much as I am loath to believe it, Albus has gone senile in his advanced age. Whatever the truth of it may be, he is not welcome here, and I beseech him to turn himself in. He will receive a fair trial, to which I'm sure all of you would be invited. Let us get this all out in to the open, so perhaps some answer can be determined."

"Now, I will ask you to please leave the school grounds. Classes will be starting in only moments, and most of the students are not taking this well." She turned and walked regally back into the school.

One of the reporters turned to another. "They must be distraught that their Headmaster has been turned against like this. Perhaps we should talk to them."

The reporter he was talking to just looked at him in disbelief. "You didn't listen very well, did you? I, for one, have every intention of leaving, just as I was asked. I have an article to write."

"What do you know, a reporter with sense," a mocking voice said from behind them. The reporters turned to find a group of students, at least one from every house and from several different years.

"What do you think about these fraudulent charges against Dumbledore," the first reporter proved how dense he truly was. The rest of the group showed much better sense, backing slowly away from the obviously angry students.

"If they were fraudulent, the Houses wouldn't have backed Minister Malfoy," the girl, a Fourth Year Hufflepuff said. "If you truly think they are, than do as the Headmistress said. Tell him to turn himself in so we can have a trial. Until then, we're going to follow Harry's lead. He hasn't led us wrong yet." She looked the reporter over disdainfully, snorted, and walked off. Most of the group followed her. The ones that were left, however, were the ones causing the reporters to back off. They didn't like the way the students were playing with their wands.

Sure, they were just students, and from the younger grades as well, so the likelihood that they knew any real curses or hexes was very low. But no one would be on their side if the adults cursed a student while on the grounds of their own school.

Then others quietly joined the students. One by one, older students, from every house, gathered together in front of the reporters. They didn't bother to say anything, and most didn't even have their wands out, but the combined weight of their stare was too much for most of the reporters to handle. One grabbed the stupid one by the back of his robe, and they walked as quickly as possible towards the front gate, being watched unemotionally by the students standing there.

Once the adults were gone, laughter and cheers went up from the group, united as almost never before. They congratulated each other as they walked off to their morning classes.

Lunch that day showed many more people gathered at the middle table than ever before. A trend that continued and grew from that moment on.


	16. Chapter 53, 54 and 55

Back to school today. The holiday was definitely too short. Still, I do like my work... most days ^_^.

Part 53/?

The next few weeks passed both very slowly and extraordinarily fast. The papers were still churning up a storm, but the number saying Dumbledore should turn himself in and get a fair trial were increasing every day. Especially once word got around that Lucius Malfoy was asking other Ministries for help. Not in capturing Dumbledore, but in finding a judge. According to a press release put out by the Minister's PR department, 'Minister Malfoy is well aware that he would not be an unbiased judge in this matter, therefore he believes it to be best to find someone that could, in no way, be influenced or considered partial, by any of the participants.' However, finding someone that would be a good judge and yet had never met any of the important people in the trial was turning out to be very difficult. Dumbledore had certainly gotten around in his younger years, and Lucius had met an awful lot of people.

Back at Hogwarts, things were going wonderfully for the most part. The middle table was getting an awful lot of use, and in the times when it wasn't, the female portion of Harry's group had decided it should anyway. They'd started grabbing people they thought would get on well together, sitting them down next to each other for a chat, whether they wanted to or not. The girls especially seemed to enjoy putting the shyer of the younger students together with those who would be good mentors for them. Hermione in particular was good at putting together small study groups, where each student was good in one particular thing and together they were a well-rounded group. Those groups where all the members actually *studied* consistently, already had begun to turn in higher than average grades. Mostly, the boys seemed to just watch their girlfriends' antics in disbelief. And try to not draw any undue attention, lest they find some project for them, or perhaps *become*the next project, themselves. Although there were a couple of times Harry intervened and changed a grouping. Hermione had been paying too much attention to grades and not enough to personalities. It seemed the only thing the girls weren't doing was matchmaking.

Harry, meanwhile, was not yet feeling the pinch of being unable to leave. It had only been a short time, and even though Lucius hadn't been able to do more than call, he had enough going on to keep him busy. Especially after the middle of the first week, when Remus and Sirius showed up, portrait in tow.

Helga Hufflepuff turned out to be a very... earthy woman. It was almost immediately obvious why Salazar tended to leer when speaking of her. She wasn't scandalously dressed, but she seemed to exude a raw sensuality. And she had absolutely no compunction when it came to speaking about sex. The other three Houses were shocked by her, but they were even more surprised by the Hufflepuffs' reaction to her. None of them ever seemed to suddenly blush and run away, though even several *Slytherins* had been known to do that after talking to her for a couple of minutes. The House members seemed…comfortable with their Founder's viewpoints. Many people were looking at that House much differently as they watched them take their Founder's actions and words in stride.

Neville had traveled back to the Keep with Ron and Hermione. She was still working together with Roan, Connor and Severus to change the wards, but had not yet managed it. They did, however, manage to convince the Gryffindor Founder to return to Hogwarts until the current crises was over. If necessary, they promised, they would work on moving the rest of the portraits to Hogwarts. Surprising as it may seem, there were still sections of walls in the massive castle that were painting-free. As soon as the portrait was hung on the wall in the Great Hall, as the other three had already been, Harry called for Sanctuary and it was granted. Several other students also called for it immediately, letting Connor breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed he wouldn't have to ask some of the Sidhe to look after them, after all.

Although in other times those students who called for Sanctuary, and thus showed themselves to be in a far less than ideal home situation, would be targeted for teasing and even bullying, it wasn't happening now. More and more, it seemed as if the students were taking it on themselves to look after one another, and all of them had already been placed with mentors. Those who found out their charges were the ones who called for Sanctuary, just got more protective. There were still bullies at the school, still mean spirited teasing, but when the one you were teasing or pushing around wouldn't hesitate to go to his or her older and very annoyed 'big brother or sister' to get help, it tended to drop off very quickly.

So things went until the next Hogsmeade weekend.

Harry sent his supplies list in with Draco and Ron, while he went to an appointment with Madam Faire. He knew he had put certain things on the list that he really wasn't supposed to have, and there was no way Draco would buy them for him, but Ron didn't seem quite as determined Harry stay on his diet as his blonde friend was. Now, as long as Ron was by himself when he bought them...

Professor O'Feahr was one of the school chaperones for that trip. He was standing on the main thoroughfare of the small school town, where anyone who needed him would be easily able to find him, and where he could watch both Zonko's and the Three Broomsticks. Of course, the proprietor was usually good at keeping the students away from the hard liquor, but every once in a while someone would try to get by her.

He was still standing there when a Third Year, on his first trip, ran up to him. "Professor! Professor! I saw him! He's here!" the child gasped out.

"Calm down, Mr. Lastings. Who's here? What's the problem?"

"The Headmaster!" the child said, tugging on his robes. "I saw him talking to some of the older students, but I don't know which ones. Why didn't they come tell you themselves? I thought no one was supposed to talk to him?"

Connor was still for only a moment. "Are ye absolutely sure it was him?" he asked intensely.

"Uh-huh. He had his long white hair, and beard, and those glasses, but he wasn't dressed in blue or green or orange or anything. He was wearing something dark. I've never seen him in anything dark before, but it was him, I know it was." The child defended what he had seen.

Connor made a decision. He quickly pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill and jotted down a quick note. "I need ye to go over to Honeyduke's. Draco Malfoy and Ehlana should still be in there, and I want ye to give this to one of them, okay?" He pulled out a couple of knuts. "Once ye've done that ye may get something for yerself, but make sure ye give them the note *first*. Do ye understand?"

"Of course I do," the boy said importantly. "Are you going to capture him? Is he going to be put in jail? Is there going to be a duel?"

"I'm not being sure what's going to happen," Connor admitted, "but I want ye to stay in the store until one of the older kids says it's safe to be coming out, alright? Now, head on with ye."

With the child running towards Honeydukes, the Sidhe warrior headed towards the alley the child had come down.

Meanwhile, back in the candy store, the young student had followed directions. Draco took the note with a surprised look on his face. It darkened immediately as he read it. 'Dumbledore spotted talking to unknown students. Draco, make sure Harry is safe. Ehlana, call for back up. Connor'. Ehlana hissed in a breath as she read, then reached into her hair and pulled down a crystal hair ornament. With one sharp move she snapped it in half.

Draco had pulled out his communicator mirror and called Malfoy Manor. "Moppy, transfer me to Harry's mirror, immediately," he ordered as soon as the house elf answered. His tone obviously got through to the elf, because Moppy didn't even bother to acknowledge the order before he transferred the call to Harry's mirror.

"Draco?" Harry asked in surprise as he looked down at his small mirror. He knew the other boy would be aware he was getting a check up and would never normally call in the middle. This had to be something important, more important than just asking about what he had asked Ron to pick up for him.

"Dumbledore has been seen in Hogsmeade talking to students. At this moment we don't know who they are. Assume the worst. O'Feahr went to confront him. I need to go back him up." Draco's image abruptly disappeared, but it was enough.

"Come on, Madam Faire. Grab what you need for an unknown time away from here and living like a Muggle," Harry ordered as he ran through the rooms to the closet he kept here in the Chambers. He looked down at the mirror he held. "Voco Malfoy Study," he ordered. "Transfer me to Mr. Malfoy," he ordered as Moppy answered. He was quickly changing into a simple skirt and blouse combination and was working on his hair as the call went through. "Hey love," he said as soon as Lucius' image appeared. "Draco just called in the alert. Dumbledore was seen in Hogwarts talking to some students, but no one seems to know who right now, so I'm heading out. Hopefully it isn't anyone who knows where these Chambers are, but I'm not going to take any chances. Is everything still set up in the study?"

Lucius' mind was working as fast as Harry's. "Yes," he agreed. "The portkey is where I promised it would be, and it's the only one leading there. There's also enough Muggle money to last you for at least several months. Hopefully this won't take that long. Are you sure..."

Harry nodded even as he finished applying his makeup. "Until we know who he was talking to, and what he told them to do, I'm not safe here. This is the best choice at the moment. You know how to get in touch with me when necessary. Please, keep me updated." He stopped and looked deeply into the storm grey eyes looking back at him. "I love you," he whispered. "I'm going to miss you."

"It won't be for too long, I promise you that," Lucius swore. "I love you, too. Be careful, you never know what those Muggles will do."

"They're my friends," Harry reminded him. "And I seem to have good friends."

"You are good at picking those you can trust," Lucius had to agree.

They might have continued doing nothing but staring into each other's eyes for another hour, if Madam Faire hadn't entered the room and interrupted them. With another whispered "I love you," they each went to attend to the matter at hand. Lucius hurried to send Aurors to Hogsmeade while Harry quickly packed.

In the middle of Hogsmeade, Dumbledore and O'Feahr faced each other. Connor had managed to mire the mage in mud before the man even knew he was there. He'd pulled the winds into bindings, but it was taking all of his concentration and power to keep the older man from Apparating away. He wasn't able to stop the other man from slowly pulling away from the bindings he'd tried to cover him with. The only good thing was that the old mage couldn't use his own magic against him, as he could have with a normal wizard.

Just as it seemed the white-haired mage would be able to pull completely away, the help that Ehlana had called for arrived. A dozen Sidhe warriors quickly surrounded Dumbledore They covered the entire section with their own magic, a magic they knew no human mage could use. It still took another half an hour to completely immobilize the old man. To those who watched, it seemed not much of a battle at all. There were no spells being thrown around, no giant fireballs or rushing to get out of the way. It was a battle of strength and will, pure power against pure power. The Aurors and Draco, as well as several other students, had shown up to help, but had been ordered to stay out of the way. If it hadn't seemed as if the Tuatha de Danaan were winning, they probably wouldn't have.

"Thank you for capturing him for us," the Head Auror said, "We'll take it from here."

"No," Draco disagreed. They all turned to him. He glared at the white-haired man whose blue eyes were *still* twinkling. "We need to know who he was talking to and we need a safe place to keep him until the trial. I believe," he said, turning to the leader of the Sidhe warriors, "that your King offered to hold him for as long as necessary?" It was only slightly a question.

"That is correct," the tall warrior agreed.

"I assume Professor O'Feahr knows how to contact you once we find an impartial judge?" he asked, thinking deeply.

"O'course I do," Connor agreed.

"Do you have a way of extracting information without harming him?" was the young blonde's next question. "We've got to know who he was talking with and what he told them to do."

The warrior smiled grimly. "We have such a way," he agreed, not mentioning what the way might be.

Dumbledore spoke for the first time. "I have the right to speak to my students. There is no crime in that. As for finding an impartial judge, I doubt that's going to happen. It's unlikely anyone but Merlin himself could be impartial in this."

Draco looked at him thoughtfully. "That might actually be a good idea." The Aurors looked at him strangely, but by the looks of the Tuatha de Danaan, they understood.

Dumbledore and those guarding him disappeared off the streets of Hogsmeade and out of Overworld altogether.

By the time they got back to Hogwarts, Harry had disappeared as well.

Part 54/?

A dark alley behind an upscale department store was empty except for one black and white cat. It was digging through the rubbish, looking for employee dinner leavings. It was the only witness to the loud pop that sent it scurrying behind a convenient bin and left behind two more beings than had been there moments before.

Madam Faire looked around and wrinkled her nose. "*This* is where we are going?" She had spent time in some very unattractive places, but there was no way to get a place like this sanitary.

Jade laughed and shook her head. "Of course not. This is just where we arrive so no one would see us appear." She led the way out of the back alley, making sure they weren't noticed as they entered the mainstream of humanity.

"Tell me about these friends of yours," Madam Faire asked. "What are you planning on telling them?"

"Well, the main one is Jeri. She's really the person that created Jade. She lives like this all the time, as do her friends. They were all very nice to me when they found out I was trying out the lifestyle." Jade explained. "Up until I went to live at the Manor, I'd see at least one of them every day. They'd teach me how to walk, put on make-up... you know, things that would make it easier, and make sure I wasn't caught out. They really became like adopted older sisters to me."

"Won't they wonder where you've been? They don't know about... you know," she whispered conspiratorially.

"If you mean about magic and such, Jeri does," Jade admitted in a low voice that no one who was not standing right next to them would be able to hear, "but the others don't. As for where I've been, nope, they all know I go to boarding school for most of the year. They will, however, be wondering why I'm back. Not to mention who you are."

"And who am I?" she asked with an upraised eyebrow.

"You're my Aunt Lillith of course," Jade grinned. "Well, Great Aunt, technically. And you're the one I'm named after. You know, Jade 'Lillith' Jameson. Of course, they know my mother was named Lily, so she was named after you."

"You have it all planned out?" the mediwitch asked in surprise.

"Of course. It's not a good plan if you have to make it up on the fly. Actually, Jeri should have received a box sent by Lucius to hold for me. It'll have most of what we need. That includes real, actual Muggle identities for both of us. I'm not sure what last name he came up to for you though."

"And what's wrong with my own name? It's served me well for the past fifty years or so." Lillith looked affronted.

"I know it did," Jade agreed. "But it also serves well for the nurse who's taking care of Harry Potter. To hide, we've got to get as far from that life as possible. That means new names, among other things. Yes, it's entirely possible that no one will be looking that has the capability of searching the Muggle world for us, but I'm not going to take that chance. And if there is someone that is looking for us among the muggles, and knows how, I'm not going to make it that easy for them. Some enterprising reporter somewhere might very well have that aptitude and ability. Jeri is safe because no one except for my husband, father and Draco know who she is and where she works and lives. The others know she's the one who got me dressing this way, but don't know how to find her."

"Why did she start dressing like that?" Lillith asked, changing the subject slightly. All of this subterfuge was not to her liking, but she understood the necessity.

Jade shrugged. "I've never asked. If she wants me to know, she'll tell me, but it's not the sort of thing you just come out and ask someone."

"Why did you, then?"

Jade smirked. "Because I didn't want to be *him*. I needed to get as far away from that as possible. I needed not to be recognized... and trust me, I'm not."

"Is that really healthy?" Madam Faire asked worriedly. She might not be a mind doctor, but running this far from yourself couldn't be really healthy... could it?

"I'm sometimes convinced it's the only thing that's saved my sanity," Jade admitted softly.

"I've *never* forgotten who I am or what I've done. But it's not nearly as overwhelming when I'm surrounded by people who don't know. And just being in the Muggle world didn't help. There are too many people that straddle the line. I've walked the Muggle world as Harry and been accosted almost as much as in the wizarding world. Jade isn't a different person than Harry, although I know I sometimes speak that way, but I'm able to be freer as Jade, without everyone watching my every move. I need that. It's one of the reasons I'll dress as Jade even when there's no one to see me. I just feel better about myself that way."

"I'm never going to understand, am I?" she asked, her voice gentling quite a bit.

Jade looked thoughtful as she guided the older woman into a store. "I don't think so," she agreed. "It's hard to imagine my life if you don't live it. The choices I've made might seem strange to some, but sometimes, they're the only ones I've felt I could make. And I don't think there are very many I would go back and change if I could. Oh, there are some. I'm not a masochist after all. But *this*... this isn't one of them."

Anything more she might have said was silenced as she was suddenly attacked. Madam Faire reached for her wand and was getting ready to curse the intruder before she realized that the attack was simply a full-on hug.

"What are you doing here, Jade?" the sales associate that simply had to be Jeri asked as she finally let the younger 'girl' go.

"I needed to get away for a while," Jade explained. "Don't worry, I didn't run away from school. It was simply felt that it would be better for everyone concerned if I removed myself from the situation until things calmed down. Aunt Lillith, here, came to get me and we're trying to decide what to do for the next week or two."

"What happened?" Jeri asked, frowning worriedly.

"I'm pregnant," Jade answered happily.

Jeri's eyes went wide. Her mouth opened and closed silently for a long moment. Finally, she seemed to get control of herself. "Stay right here," she ordered. She turned on her heel and headed determinedly towards the manager's office. Five minutes later she was back. "Come on," she told them, taking Jade by the hand.

Nothing more was said until they reached her apartment.

"Now, what do you mean, you're pregnant?" Jeri burst out. It was obvious that she'd been holding that in for a while.

Jade laughed. "Is it such a difficult concept?" she asked lightly.

"Considering last time I saw you, you were not only male but planning on staying that way, I would say so. What changed your mind? Why did you decide to go through with it?"

"Why would you think he wasn't still a boy?" Madam Faire asked, completely confused.

"Because muggle males can't get pregnant, remember?" Jade answered for her friend. "However, with magic, anything is possible. Especially if it's something you really want. I got pregnant the first time Lucius and I made love," she said with a soft smile.

Jeri was gaping and then a longing filled her eyes. "They can?" she said softly. "Really? Do you have to be a wizard?"

Madam Faire saw the look in her eyes and her heart went out to the young man in front of her. "I'm afraid so, dear," she said softly. "Without the extra bolster provided by their link to magic, a male's body simply wouldn't be able to handle it. For most normal wizards, it takes all of their strength to carry to term. Harry is lucky in that he has extra magic to pull from, since he is a mage. If not for that, I'd probably already have him on complete bed rest, as small as he is."

Jeri nodded her understanding and then excused herself. Jade just sat there hugging herself almost desperately.

"I'm sorry I had to tell her that," Madam Faire said softly.

"No," Jade shook her head slightly, "if it's really impossible, it's better to tell her immediately than to let her get any hope going at all. It would hurt a lot more if she really believed that it might be possible, then found out it wasn't. But... I don't understand. I'm not purposefully doing anything with my magic to sustain my body. I'm not using the channels. So why do you have to be able to *use* magic? She's got a lot of magic in her, she just can't use it."

"The channels are necessary to be a wizard. You're not using them because, as a mage, you're pulling enough in from outside that you don't need to use your own magic. She doesn't have that. If you 'looked', you'd see that several of your channels are actually going through your womb."

Jade nodded her understanding. She sat watching the doorway that she knew led to Jeri's bedroom, but when it remained empty for several minutes, she got up and followed her friend into the room Jeri was standing by the window, simply looking out. Her face was clear, with no signs of tears, something Jade was happy about. She didn't think she'd be able to take it if Jeri had been crying.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. Jeri started slightly, but didn't turn around. "If I'd known you felt like that about it, I wouldn't have said anything."

Jeri jerked around. "Don't say that! I'm unhappy, yes. For one single, solitary moment, I thought it might be possible, and I'm sorry that it's not. But I'm not sorry that you're pregnant, and if you hadn't told me about it, *you'd* be the one who is sorry. Got me?"

Jade chuckled. "Loud and clear," she answered.

Jeri suddenly looked much happier. "So," she ordered. "Let's go out there and you can tell me all about it. If I can't live it myself, you'd better believe I'm going to live it through you."

Part 55/?

Professor O'Feahr watched Draco closely. "It would be a workable solution," the sixth year was saying.

Connor shook his head. "I canna' see how anyone would consider him to be impartial. Aye, he's never met any of those involved, but he does still be the head of Harry's line. Harry is his heir. That makes him inherently partial. Perhaps one of the Tuatha would be the best choice, but it's na' gonna be him."

"Dumbledore isn't going to accept one of the Sidhe," Draco disagreed. "They're very judgmental when it comes to children being harmed."

"But if he didn't actually do it, why should he be worried about that?" Hermione said thoughtfully. "To others, they would be considered impartial. Dumbledore's not wanting one of them as a judge would be easily considered an indication of guilt."

"What about that treasure Nuada said he had?" Ehlana wondered. "How come no one's said anything about that while they were trying to catch him?"

"It does not be something they wish to be bandied about," Connor explained.

"If people knew it was missing, there would be some that would try to find it, to find out what it is, then either keep it for themselves, or hold it for ransom," Thyme explained.

"Couldn't Dumbledore do that?" Blaise asked thoughtfully. "If he's the only one who knows where it is, couldn't *he* blackmail the Sidhe with it?"

"Which makes them suspect if one of them is the judge!" Draco said triumphantly.

Severus saw the group gathered together and talking intently, and quickly headed over. Although they often came up with good ideas, it was still best there be an adult nearby if possible to... curtail... their more impulsive ideas. The redheaded DADA professor did not necessarily count as an adult.

"What is going on?" Severus asked, placing his hand on Draco's shoulder to calm his young apprentice.

"Malfoy thinks we should go after Merlin, and ask him to be the judge," Ron explained.

"And what brought this about?" he asked carefully.

"It was something Dumbledore said, about no one but him being impartial," Draco explained.

"And that didn't set off alarms in anyone's head?" Severus asked sarcastically.

There was universal silence as everyone processed what he had just said. Hermione actually hit herself on the forehead. "No, professor, I don't believe it did," she remarked sheepishly.

"What's wrong?" Neville asked, looking confused, but everyone else had the light of realization in their eyes.

"Dumbledore wouldn't have said it if he didn't have a reason," Thyme explained to her boyfriend. "He planted the idea in Draco's head. The pertinent question is, why?"

"He wants Merlin to come out," Ron murmured.

"Yes, but why?" Blaise answered back.

"Maybe because he's the son of two mages?" Roan suggested slowly. Everyone looked at him. He just shrugged. "It's a point of similarity between Merlin and Harry's child, in which Dumbledore has obviously taken a personal interest."

"Yes, but interested in getting rid of, not in getting," Ron argued.

"True," the Ravenclaw agreed.

"I suggest we think about this longer," Severus told them. "Until then, absolutely nothing is to be done." He stared hard at Draco. "Absolutely *nothing*. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir," Draco muttered petulantly.

Severus' eyes caught hold of each of his other Slytherins, warning them without words to keep an eye on the blonde. He didn't like the way the boy had said that, and Ehlana had been in the area at the time as well. True, she had been raised among the Tuatha de Danaan, and so didn't have the same perception of magic that most wizards and witches did, but she was wholly human. She might approach magic's use a different way, but still used it through the same active channels. And could be passively affected in the same way. If Dumbledore's words had been anything more than simply *words*, they might have caught her as well.

"Any more word on who the students might be?" Severus asked, changing the subject. He did not like the fact that Harry was out of his sphere of influence for the foreseeable future. He was going to worry about his son until the young man managed to return to Hogwarts where he belonged.

Headshakes came from all around. "Lastings couldn't give me any description at all, except that they were older students," O'Feahr explained. "He didn't even know if they were girls or boys, or what House they were in. All I can say for certain is that they were not Mr. Malfoy or Ehlana. I know where they were at all times. Unfortunately I can't say the same for anyone else, even those of this group."

"Well, I can say for sure that Blaise and I were in Zonko's," Roan spoke up. "We didn't leave until after we heard the commotion."

"Can the owner confirm that?" Severus asked.

Roan blinked. "Um... I'm sure he can. Why?"

"No students have come forward to say they saw Dumbledore in Hogsmeade today. Now, either they're scared to do so, they're working with him willingly, or he used a compulsion to make them forget seeing him. A compulsion that would make them believe they were with someone else at the time. If an adult can be found that knows where each and every one of you was at the time he was known to be in town, or if he can be... persuaded to admit to whom he was speaking, then we will allow Harry to return. However, until we can get such confirmation, he needs to stay away."

"You don't really think any of us would hurt Harry?" Ron argued vehemently.

"Willingly?" Severus said seriously. "No. I don't. However, I also don't believe there is a single one of you except *maybe* Draco, with the strength to fight off a compulsion placed by Dumbledore. And even he would not be able to if he sees it as common sense."

"Oh, come on," Draco disagreed vehemently.

"Are you saying you don't still consider going to get Merlin to be a good idea?" Severus raised an eyebrow in question.

"That's because it *is* a good idea," Draco disagreed.

That brought everyone's attention to him. "Okay, I understand what you mean," Hermione muttered. The others agreed.

"I am *not* being compelled!" Draco argued.

"I'd double check that if I were you," Blaise told him seriously.

"I'd know if I was," he frowned at his friend.

"Are you so sure?" Thyme asked softly.

"Of course I'm sure!" he said angrily. He turned around and stalked away from the group.

Blaise waited until Draco was almost out of the room before nodding at the rest of the group and drifting after him. They didn't even need to discuss it to be aware that he would not be allowed to be alone until they were sure he was not going to do anything stupid.

The others quietly gave Severus their alibis, knowing he'd check them out to be sure they were where they thought they had been. Ehlana drifted away from the group and out of the door. Just because they thought it was a bad idea, didn't mean it actually was. And just because Draco had given his word not to do anything, didn't mean *she* had. Once outside the wards of Hogwarts, she disappeared... going home.


	17. Chapter 56, 57, 58 and 59

Back and forth, and back and forth, from Harry to Underhill to Harry to Hogwarts ^_^. Enjoy!

Part 56/?

The box that Jeri eventually pulled out showed just how much thought Lucius had put into making Harry safe. Not only did it contain full identities for Jade Jameson and Lillith Preston, but it also contained credit cards in their names, with credit reports showing almost unlimited credit-worthiness. There were passports, and even letters of reference in case they decided to rent a flat or house. They could obviously live quite comfortably for as long as necessary.

They'd already spent the past several hours explaining everything to Jeri, or at least as much as they thought she'd understand. Although she was much more 'in the know' about certain things than most of her contemporaries, there were still aspects of the wizarding world that she probably would not have been able to grasp without far more background information than Jade had planned on giving.

It wasn't long after that when the apartment buzzer announced visitors. Karen and Willow had dropped by the store to see Jeri, only to be told she'd left early with a black- haired girl.

"Jade!" Karen squealed, enveloping her in a hug. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

Jade smiled back at her friends, going to give Willow a hug. "Things happened," she said dismissively. "It was just felt best that I... lay low for a while. And not at Lucius' house."

"Ooh, problems with the old man, hmm?" Willow said compassionately. "I'm sure it will all work out."

"I'm sure it will," Jade agreed. "It just might take a week or two. Oh, everyone, this is my great-aunt Lillith."

Karen frowned. "What about..." she halted, unsure what to say in front of the girl's relative. Then again, if this one was anything like what those were purported to be, she wouldn't be sitting here with *Jade* now, would she?

Jade, meanwhile, was frowning over at her. "What about... what?" she asked, before she realized whom the blonde was probably alluding to. "Oh, the Dursleys? They're out of the picture for good. I didn't find out about Aunt Lillith until afterwards; they didn't like her either."

"Well," Willow grinned, "Anyone the Dursleys didn't like can't be all bad, now can they?"

Following that quick acceptance, Jade's friends met almost all her needs. It took only moments for Karen to offer the two rooms in her own house, accommodations that were gratefully accepted. Jade really hadn't been looking forward to living in a hotel for several weeks, but didn't feel they would be in London long enough to worry about renting a flat.

For the next several days, Madam Faire just stood back and watched. If she hadn't known better, she would have sworn that the one she watched was just a normal teenage girl, no different than her own granddaughter. Jade loved to shop and dance, although after the first night, they didn't return to a nightclub. The green-eyed 'girl' had gotten very tired, very quickly, of having to turn down people that didn't know the meaning of the word 'no'. Anytime she was left alone by the rest of her friends, she'd get accosted. Enough was enough. She'd wait until Lucius could go out with her again before she went clubbing.

Whenever the girls got together, that's what they were: girls. They traded beauty secrets and manicures with equal fervor. Most of the girls were older and worked at a job at which they could stay in the form they preferred. Denise was the only one that had to routinely change to boy's clothes during the day; the college preferred that the students come in the gender in which they were registered.

During the day, Jade and her aunt headed out and into the city. Jade enjoyed showing off the special places she'd found about town. Any other extra time was taken up with studying. Just because she couldn't practice spells or potions, did not mean she wasn't expected to have all of her homework done when they returned.

One thing she'd worried about was the absence of Cattie, and with it, the absence of the tea she'd grown to need. Luckily for her, the tea had not gotten more potent in the last several weeks; instead, her morning sickness had virtually disappeared.

It was three days into their 'holiday', that Jade burst into Madam Faire's room.

"What's the matter?" the older woman asked immediately. Even with the mood swings that still happened occasionally, Jade... Harry, she reminded herself, did not often get flustered.

"Something's wrong!" Jade said desperately. The older woman obviously was not moving fast enough, because she dashed over. She pulled off her shirt, which helped the mediwitch with the identity problem she was having. "Feel!" Harry grabbed the woman's hands and placed them on his abdomen. A stomach that was noticeably harder than it had been before.

The mediwitch did not smile, although she wanted to. However, she knew Harry was a bit too overwrought to accept any humorous reply at the moment. "It looks like everything is going according to plan," she said soothingly.

"It's supposed to do this?" Harry asked, shocked.

Madam Faire nodded calmly. "Your womb needs more space than your body currently has; as it expands, it presses against the skin of your abdomen."

Harry's distraught expression faded as he calmed down. He gently ran his hands over the whole area. "Here…" he murmured almost ecstatically, "My baby is growing here."

"That's right," Madam Faire smiled back at him. "Go ahead and get on the bed and I'll run a quick scan, just to reassure you."

"Can I tell Lucius?" Harry said hopefully as he hopped onto the bed and lay down.

"That's up to you," the mediwitch reminded him. "You're the one who knows what the rules are for contacting him."

Harry didn't want to move his hands for long enough for the older witch to run her scan, but ultimately, it got done.

"Everything's going just as it should, dear," she smiled down at him. "Now go get dressed. Nothing too tight, though. No tight garments constricting your belly from now on."

Jade's eyes crinkled up, and suddenly he seemed a girl once more. "Shopping?" she suggested facetiously.

"As if you need any more clothes," Madam Faire muttered.

Harry just laughed. He skipped back into the guest bedroom he was staying in and picked up his contact mirror, once again settled within the compact he'd originally taken it from. A quick glance at the clock, however, showed there was no way his husband would be alone, right then, so reluctantly he put it away for later.

He went to get changed, but instead found himself standing in front of the mirror. He stared at himself as he ran his hands over his stomach. There were changes, he realized. Not enough to notice with his clothes on, but obvious when looking at himself critically in the mirror, as he was now. He'd known he was developing breasts, and they were getting larger. Still not even a girl's A-cup, but definitely... puffier than they had been. Did that mean he'd eventually be able to breast feed? And how could he not have already asked that question?

He looked carefully. The hardness was a bulge. It was very small, and he had to look closely, but it was there. In a way that morning sickness could never be, it was proof. Proof that he, Harry Potter-Snape... was going to be a father… or was that mother?

Thirty minutes later, Madam Faire peeked in, and seeing Harry still looking at himself in the mirror, smiled and walked away.

Part 57/?

Ehlana looked around and sighed happily. It was good to be home.

"Oh, wow," a voice said behind her. She spun around quickly, but not before yet another voice had spoken up.

"It's beautiful," the other voice said in soft amazement.

"Thyme, Hermione! What are you two doing here? How did you get here?" Ehlana gasped out. Only then did she realize that one of the Slytherin's hands was firmly grasping the back her school robes, while her other hand was holding onto the Gryffindor.

Hermione drew her gaze away from the unbelievable vista before her. She smiled at her friend. "You stood there and watched as Blaise went after Draco. Didn't it even occur to you that someone would be following you as well?"

"It's not necessary," Ehlana complained. "I know what I'm doing."

"So do I," Thyme spoke up. "You're taking us to see your foster mother. My grandmother said if I ever came here I had to talk to her. You're not going to make me go against her wishes, are you?"

Ehlana looked torn. Getting Madam Faire mad at her was one of the last things she wanted to do. However, she couldn't help feeling that seeing Mother Aine would not be a good idea. She was doing the right thing, she knew that... still, she couldn't help but feel the Tuatha de Danaan goddess wouldn't agree with her.

"Well?" Hermione asked when Ehlana didn't move. "Which way?"

Ehlana shook her head. "We can stop on the way back," she offered.

"How were you planning on getting to wherever Merlin is?" Hermione asked with interest. "Is there some sort of mass transport here?"

"Not as such," Ehlana admitted.

"So, you were planning on walking?" Thyme suggested.

"Not really," Ehlana prevaricated.

"Well, I'm sure the goddess Aine would be happy to help out." Hermione offered.

"I wasn't planning on stopping by there; it's not exactly on the way," Ehlana told them, annoyed.

"You were going to come home and *not* visit your mother?" Thyme asked, shocked. "Girl, that is *not* a good idea, at all."

"Besides, didn't you say that Merlin lived on the Island of Youth? Doesn't that mean there's water around it? Do you have a boat?" Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Actually," a melodious voice said from a space they would have sworn was empty. "Those are all good questions. The best however, was young... Thyme's, I believe? You were planning on coming here and *not* visiting your mother?"

Hermione and Thyme blinked. There was Aine, where they would swear she hadn't been before, and yet they had not seen her appear. It was more as if their eyes suddenly adjusted to something that had been there all along, but that they hadn't been able to see.

"It is an important duty, mother, I didn't have any time to waste," Ehlana tried to explain.

"Ah, so visiting me is now a waste of your time," Aine said understandingly. "I see. And the fact that I could get it done much quicker than three children, who would be immediately noticed and brought back, is of no consequence."

"Of course not," Thyme answered her sarcastically. "And she's not compelled to do it either."

"I'm not under a compulsion!" Ehlana argued, rolling her eyes.

Her mother's eyes narrowed. In three swift strides she was beside them, looking deep into the golden-haired girl's eyes. "Who has done this?" she almost snarled. "Who has dared place a compulsion on *my* child?"

Thyme and Hermione backed up several paces. Any doubts that this woman had *earned* her place as a goddess were completely eradicated. This was most definitely not someone they wanted mad at them. Nor did they want to even be in the same place, if she was mad at someone else.

"Dumbledore," Hermione answered when she looked over at them.

"How?" Aine asked, even as her hand wrapped around Ehlana's wrist, and she started towing her towards their home. Her stride was determined enough that Thyme and Hermione almost had to run to keep up.

"He was captured in Hogsmeade this weekend. Draco and Ehlana just called in the cavalry, and were there watching. They didn't help subdue him, that was all done by Professor O'Feahr and the warriors Ehlana called. However, he said no one but Merlin would be impartial enough to be a judge at his trial. Ever since, both of them have been determined to find him."

"What about the others who were there at the time?" Aine asked a question that neither of the two had considered.

"We didn't think much of it, because no one except the group of us and Professor O'Feahr know where he is," Hermione explained.

"What I don't understand, is how he could have had the power to place a compulsion like that on them, after the fight he'd just had," Thyme admitted. "If it was just Draco, we could blame it on the idea that not all the compulsions that were placed on him earlier were found, and maybe one was just triggered. But there's no way he could have had any on Ehlana before this point."

"That is a good question," Aine admitted. "You say Dumbledore was captured?" At their nods, she continued. "Where was he taken?"

They all shrugged. "Some of our warriors took him," Ehlana spoke up, for the first time since Aine had taken hold of her.

"Good," Aine muttered. "That will give me a chance to talk to the man."

Aine didn't even bother taking them into the house. Instead, she led the way around it to a pasture out back and whistled sharply four times.

Out of the trees behind the field came four magnificent horses. Their coats were an almost incandescent white and their silver hoofs chimed with each stride. It was especially awe inspiring, considering they were walking on grass.

"Elvensteed," Hermione whispered in awe.

"I don't know how to ride," Thyme admitted, even as her eyes drank in the sight of the beautiful equines.

"It doesn't matter," Hermione said before Aine could. "No Elvensteed will ever let you fall."

"Stay here," the goddess ordered her daughter, before heading to the steeds. Hermione hurried to catch up with her.

"Can you take the compulsion off of her?" she asked as soon as they were out of earshot.

"I could," Aine admitted, "But there are others that have more experience with this, especially since it's human magic. I also want King Nuada to see it before it's taken off. It's not harming her, and she won't be able to just take one of the steeds and go. At least, not after I'm done speaking with them."

"Do you have some way of telling if someone is under a compulsion? We have no idea whom Dumbledore has spoken to , nor who are working for him because they wish to, or which ones don't have any choice. We need to know that." Hermione stressed.

"We do," Aine agreed. "We will talk to King Nuada about it when we meet him."

Hermione accepted that answer, and stood back to watch as Aine went to each of the horses, talking softly in a language that reminded the girl of Gaelic, but not quite. Several minutes later, they were done.

"Come and get on," Aine commanded. "We should be at the court before nightfall."

With some help to the two human witches that had never ridden before, they were all seated upon the bare backs of the steeds. If either had ridden before, they would have realized that the white ones' backs were far more comfortable than the most broken-in and well padded saddle. Even Hermione, who had read of the animals, and knew much that they could do, was a trifle apprehensive about getting on one's back, but soon forgot all about it and just enjoyed the scenery. It was certainly much more pleasant than a broom.

"How far do we have to go?" Thyme asked.

"In your terms... I believe it would be about thirty-five leagues," Aine answered.

"Thirty-five... that's over a hundred miles!" Hermione said, shocked.

"As I said," Aine answered unperturbed, "we'll be there by tonight."

"How fast do these things go?" Thyme squeaked.

"Real fast," Ehlana turned and laughed at her as the horses leapt into motion.

Part 58/?

Harry finally stopped looking at himself in the mirror and frowned. It wasn't fair! He wanted to tell someone about this! His husband and father were at work, he couldn't contact Draco or the rest of his friends and Kelly and the others didn't know. He couldn't even talk to Flick about it. Why did the snake have to choose this time to talk to the rest of the Malfoy nest about helping with her upcoming dragonlings? He chose to ignore the fact that he was the one to tell her to do so, that he had to *order* her not to come with him, believing she'd be impossible to hide for very long. He wasn't in the mood for logic.

Madam Faire had already seen, but he wanted to tell someone! Suddenly his eyes went wide. Jeri! Jeri knew he was pregnant, but didn't know about the bulge. He could go tell her! With his plans for the day made, he quickly got dressed in a loose jumper dress over a thick white sweater and white tights.

Jade practically jumped down the stairs, only taking enough care to make sure she didn't take a header down them. Her green eyes were snapping with pleasure, and she was practically glowing with happiness. Kelly asked several times what had her in such a state, but was always put off.

"I need to go visit Jeri today," Jade wheedled, practically bouncing from excitement. Madam Faire didn't even consider trying to talk her out of it, not with the way she was acting.

After a brief conversation with Kelly about dinner that night they were off. Madam Faire had been spending some time teaching the clueless cross-dresser some simple cooking; lessons which Jade didn't need thanks to her time with the Dursleys.

Jade waited impatiently until they were all done eating before heading out the door. She had news to spread! And if she couldn't spread it to everyone she wanted to, at least she had *someone* to share it with.

"Why do you want to go see Jeri?" Madam Faire asked as they waited for a cab. Kelly's house was a bit too far outside of the major shopping centers for them to comfortably walk, especially as the weather had turned a trifle nippy.

"She's the only one I can talk to at the moment," Jade explained.

"You decided against calling Lucius?" Madam Faire asked.

"Well, no," Jade admitted, "but I can't call him while there are other people around, and he won't be by himself until tonight."

"Ah," the mediwitch said understandingly. She'd been dealing with pregnant people for a long time; Harry's reactions didn't surprise the older woman at all.

They reached the store soon after it opened. Luckily, it was empty of customers at the time, since Jade grabbed Jeri's hand and pulled her into the nearest dressing room as soon as she saw her.

"What's the matter?" Jeri asked.

Jade quickly shucked out of the dress she was wearing, suddenly wondering why she hadn't worn a skirt since she knew she'd be taking it off soon. Once the dress was over her head, she lifted up her sweater and pulled Jeri's hand to her abdomen.

Jeri was watching all of this with wide eyes, wondering if her friend had suddenly flipped out, but allowed her to take her hand. She frowned as she felt the hardness under her hand.

"What is that? Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly. She wouldn't have thought so by Jade's demeanor, but it was possible.

"That's where the baby's growing," Jade explained in a soft voice. "My womb is pressing against the walls of my belly as it's getting bigger."

Jeri's eyes gentled. "Your baby?" she said in wonder, placing her hands lightly over the bulge, the same as Jade herself had done earlier that day.

"Yeah," Jade answered softly.

"How wonderful," she murmured.

Madam Faire stepped in. "I hate to disturb you two, but there are customers out there," she told the saleslady.

Jeri nodded her understanding, and gently patted Jade's stomach one more time. "Come back after I get off work and we'll go do something."

Jade agreed and got dressed once more. She and Madam Faire wandered around downtown for the rest of the morning, stopping at a sidewalk café for lunch before stopping in at a bookstore for several hours. Finally, it was time to head back to the clothes store.

Madam Faire left them there, reminding them she had promised Kelly another cooking lesson and that Jade was to be back before eight o'clock.

"Is it true, what they say about the hormones making a person horny?" Jeri asked pruriently.

Jade rolled her eyes. "You'd better believe it," she muttered. "And there's absolutely nothing I can do about it, since I'm here and Lucius isn't."

"You *can* take care of it yourself, you know," Jeri reminded her. She suddenly changed their direction, deciding to take Jade somewhere new. Of course, Jade was a little young... but she was a married person; that made her old enough.

"But I'm married," Jade reminded her.

"What does that have to do with anything? You can bet he's doing it! There's nothing wrong with handling it yourself when your husband isn't around to *handle* it for you," Jade didn't even need to see the not at all ladylike leer on Jeri's face to get the innuendo.

"It just wouldn't seem right," Jade admitted.

"It's better than being a bear because you're not getting something you need. Ask him about it if you don't believe me. I'd bet he'd like to watch."

"No bet there," Jade suddenly blushed as she realized what she'd admitted.

Jeri considered teasing her about it, but decided against it. She'd have enough to tease her about in the place they had just reached. She quickly hustled the other girl inside before Jade could wonder what kind of place they were going into.

It didn't take long for Jade to realize the type of place Jeri had brought her. She blushed quickly and deeply and tried to back out. Jeri wouldn't allow her, instead, grabbing her hand and pulling her deeper into the store.

"Now, let's see, what do you really need?" Jeri said, almost to herself.

Jade's eyes were so wide they seemed to take up most of her face as she looked around, while trying not to see too much. She'd never been in a sex shop before, and had never planned on being in one. Not with a friend, in any case.

Jeri tried to drag her over to some shelves displaying things Jade really did not want to see any closer. Desperately looking around for a distraction, her eyes were caught on a certain item. She stopped dead.

"What is it?" Jeri asked, looking around to see if she could tell what had so captured her friend's attention.

"You know, Draco isn't the one I have to worry about," Jade said thoughtfully. "We know that."

"So?" Jeri asked, not understanding where she was going.

"Well, Draco's the only one of those we're worried about who can get into Malfoy Manor. So, I'd be as safe there as I am here," she explained, walking slowly forward.

"So..." Jeri drawled. "Does that mean you'll be moving in there?" She didn't want her to, but it was where she'd be happiest until she could go back to school.

"Well, no," Jade admitted. "Madam Faire wouldn't be able to go there. But there's no reason I couldn't... go visit." She reached up to what she had been looking at, and pulled down a piece of black leather with a swirling Celtic design done in an almost metallic black thread. "Is there?"

Part 59/?

Severus watched with well-hidden pride, as the children decided what to do without a word being spoken, and Scarborough and Granger moved after the young golden-haired girl. The group of students would be a truly formidable force if they decided to stay together after graduation. He wouldn't be surprised if they were already making plans for taking over the Ministry. He had to admit; the wizarding world could certainly be in much worse hands.

"Professor Snape?" Neville asked in a rush.

The Potions Professor looked towards him and raised one eyebrow in question.

"Why can't you break this compulsion on Draco, like you did before?" the Gryffindor heir asked.

"I can," Severus admitted. "However, it is best that he is thinking less emotionally before I try."

"Why?" Roan asked.

Severus smirked. "Why don't you tell me?" he answered.

He looked around the now smaller group. He didn't really expect any of them to get it. Roan had not been around at the time they were working on breaking compulsions, and he was the only one he truly expected to understand. He looked over at the youngest Weasley boy. His face was scrunched up, in either deep thought or constipation. He considered offering the boy a laxative.

"Because he doesn't believe he's under a compulsion?" Ron finally said, surprising his professor.

"Why is that important?" Severus prodded.

Neville was the one that came up with the answer, based upon his own experience with compulsion breaking. "Because if he doesn't believe it, he'll fight you as you try to help him," the Gryffindor said thoughtfully. "You might not be able to break it if he fights."

"Correct," Severus admitted. "Especially as the young man is almost on a par with myself, in terms of strength. If he truly fought me, the compulsion would be almost impossible to break, and the process could even be dangerous to us both."

"Do you really think Ehlana would try to go find Merlin?" Ron asked worriedly.

"I'm not the one to ask," Severus nodded towards the DADA professor, who was still standing nearby.

Before Connor could speak, a young student came running in. "Professor!" he gasped out. "They're gone!"

"Who's gone?" Severus bit out.

"Um... that new girl, the one with blond hair, and the Slytherin girl and Miss Granger!" the child explained.

"What do you mean, they're gone?" Ron barked.

"They disappeared!" the youth explained. "The new one... McLear? Anyway, she was headed out the gates, and the Slytherin and Miss Granger were behind her, and then she pulled something from her hair and the Slytherin reached out and grabbed her robes and Miss Granger grabbed the Slytherin's hand... and they all disappeared!"

Connor groaned, but didn't look too worried.

"Aren't you going after them?" Roan asked, surprised.

Connor shook his head. "If they're not back in a couple hours I will, but the only transportation device Ehlana has will take her to her mother's land and warn Aine that she's there. Then, she'll have to explain to the goddess why she's come back. So, yes, I'm slightly worried, but it's more about what her mother will do to her," he grinned.

Ron winced, imagining what his mother would think if he did something like that.

Severus nodded to them all and headed down to try to find his best friend's son. It was time to try to do something about that spell.

It didn't take much looking to find the boy. He was in his workroom, a small, unused classroom that had been set up so he could practice some potions by himself. There were no truly dangerous ingredients in the cabinet on the back wall. This was a place for him to practice, to experiment with what different ingredients would do when put together. Normally, a spectacular mess in this room simply meant an exploded cauldron, something that happened quite often when he first started experimenting. Severus didn't know how many cauldrons his apprentice had gone through; he also didn't care. Unlike when Longbottom exploded his cauldron, Draco wasn't trying to make any particular potion, with a recipe and directions in front of him. Therefore, accidents of that nature were not nearly so annoying.

Severus nodded to Blaise, who was loitering unobtrusively near the classroom door. Without a word of warning, something he normally would never have done, he entered the room.

His unexpected entrance caused Draco to accidentally put too much armadillo bile into the cauldron he was stirring. He glared at his teacher as he quickly grabbed powdered dandelion root and threw it into the cauldron to stop the reaction. "What are you doing?" he asked, still glaring. "You're supposed to warn me before you come in here!"

"We have something to discuss," Severus said calmly, putting out the fire under Draco's cauldron and willfully ignoring the dark expression on the young Slytherin's face.

"No, we don't," Draco growled. "I'm not under a compulsion."

"Then what harm would it do to let me try to break something you're sure is not there?" Severus asked calmly.

Draco took a deep breath to argue and then blew it out in exasperation. "Because it would be a waste of time!"

"It is my time to waste," Severus replied. "And you don't seem to be doing anything of great import right now."

"And whose fault is that?" Draco said in exasperation. "I *was* doing something, before you decided what you wanted was more important."

Snape just looked at him expressionlessly until Draco dropped his eyes. He might enjoy being with the older man and treat him like a friend or favorite uncle, but forgetting that the older man was not only his professor, his Head of House, the acting Deputy Headmaster, and most important, his Potions Master, was simply moronic. Suddenly he realized something he should have considered much earlier. It didn't matter whether he believed he was under a compulsion or not, Severus... Deputy Headmaster Snape... did. And unless he planned on calling the Potions Master a liar, he pretty much just had to go along with what the older man wanted.

"Fine," he sighed, not bothering to hide his exasperation, but not fighting anymore. "What do you need me to do?"

Severus smiled ever so slightly. "Just think about the last few minutes that you saw Dumbledore this afternoon. And *do* *not* *fight* *me*," he ordered.

Draco did as commanded. He was paying attention to what Snape was doing, but not fighting against it. He felt the other mage's magic surrounded him. He made sure he didn't pull it in, not wanting to distract him from whatever he was doing. He might trust the man, but he didn't want to mess around while he was busy in his head, or whatever he was doing.

He suddenly felt a small shock, like something had snapped in his head. "What was that?" he complained.

"That," Severus said, semi-patiently, "was your non-existent compulsion breaking."

Draco just frowned at him.

"What do you think about Merlin?" Severus asked.

"What do you mean, what do I think about Merlin?" Draco asked. "He's a legendary mage, currently living with the Tuatha de Danaan..." his voice trailed off and he looked disgusted with himself. "Who would not be considered an impartial judge because he's Harry's ultimate ancestor," he finished unhappily. He dropped his head into his hands. "Let me guess, you told me so," he muttered.

"As if I would be so crass," Severus murmured, smirking.

"Ri-ight," Draco said sarcastically. He looked up at his professor. "How? How did he get me so fast? Especially with all those Sidhe warriors around."

"That's a good question," Severus said thoughtfully. "If it was only yourself, I would believe that you simply weren't paying attention. If you were worried about a fight, you were probably pulling in anything you could reach. In that case, Dumbledore would have had to do very little to set a compulsion within you. However, he most definitely set a compulsion on Ehlana as well. And since she is not a mage, and has never met the man before, it should have been much more difficult than it obviously was. It is something we need to be looking at much more closely, I believe."

"Wait a minute!" Draco said loudly. "It got Ehlana too? How are you so sure?"

"Simple," Severus told him. "She disappeared from in front of Hogwarts half an hour ago, along with Thyme and Hermione."

"D...disappeared?" Draco gasped. "Is she okay? Has someone gone after her? She could be going into danger!"

"I do believe that Miss MacLir is quite safe. She is, after all, heading home. Where, I have been told, her mother will immediately sense when her daughter returns to their land. Although I have not met the woman myself, I believe she is generally thought to be fairly formidable by those who have had that pleasure."

Draco thought back to some of the stories Ehlana had told him. He had to agree. "Do you think the goddess Aine will notice the compulsion on her?"

"I have little doubt," Severus said sincerely. "The only possible reason she might not, would be if human magic were too different. However, considering both Miss Scarborough and Miss Granger accompanied her, I am sure they will quickly apprize the woman of the situation."

Draco smirked in response. "I'd love to see her reaction... from a safe distance, of course."

"Of course," Severus answered, with the same expression. He decided to change the subject. There was nothing they could do about the students that were possibly dangerous, until they heard back from the Sidhe. He decided the best thing was to get the boy's mind off of the problems his friends and family were having, and he knew just how to do that. He looked around at Draco's interrupted experiment. "What were you doing?"

Draco willingly started explaining the procedure he was following as Blaise sighed in utter boredom outside. Unfortunately for the watcher, neither would remember his presence for quite some time.


	18. Chapter 60, 61, 62 and 63

I'm sure some of you will be unhappy that I didn't actually have to cut anything out today ^_^.

Part 60/?

Lucius poured himself a glass of fire whiskey and settled down into his favorite chair, sighing as it conformed to him and he began to relax. The last several days had been even busier than usual. The girls still not back from their trip to Underhill... and his son was *not* happy about that by any means, and O'Feahr had finally gone after them. Connor's absence had left the school temporarily lacking a DADA professor He and Severus were sharing the duties for the three highest years, while Draco, Blaise and Ronald Weasley were sharing the teaching of the younger years. It meant several hours out of his day that he really did not have to spend, but there was no one else he could think of that could do the job. Things had to be rearranged simply to make sure one of the boys had a free period for the younger grades, and he had to take all of the classes that occurred when Severus did not have the time. They'd doubled up a number of the classes, and that had helped a bit, but it had been a scheduling nightmare.

Of course, the worst thing about those who had gone to the home of Sidhe not returning, was that they *still* did not know to whom the old man had been talking. That, of course, meant that Harry was still in hiding. Certainly, he knew basically where his husband was, and had a way to get in touch with him in an emergency, but he would still far prefer having a larger part in his protection… and, he missed him.

He also had to worry about his lover's energy levels. He hadn't forgotten Godric Gryffindor's words about him not drawing power in a place he didn't feel safe, and he remembered how tired Harry had quickly become in the Keep. Yes, he had taken the Orb with him, but what if it wasn't enough? Or what if something happened and he wasn't able to draw in the magic he needed? Lucius willfully ignored the fact that Madam Faire was quite competent to take care of the young man, and even more the fact that she had the capability to contact him during an emergency.

And what was Harry doing, being out and around without the protection of his minidrag? Flick had shown herself the day before, and although Lucius fully admitted he wouldn't be able to tell one minidrag from another, she had ways of getting her identity across. He knew that she wouldn't have left him vulnerable by choice, so it must have been Harry's doing.

He'd felt it necessary to bring the Dursley's out of .. protective custody. He smirked at that thought. After all, they might be needed to testify, and it would have been hard for them to do in the shape they had been in. Harry might not even recognize them now... he had found a way to get the two males to lose weight. Not to say they looked good, but at least they didn't look quite so much like overgrown whales.

His popularity rating was still creeping up, very slowly, but consistently. The worst thing about that was figuring out how to gauge the students' suggestions the next time something happened. Certainly, they did a better job of public relations than anyone he could have hired for the job, but he believed, as did Severus, that it was likely they would eventually be working for themselves and he did not wish to become too dependent upon their help. He also still needed to solve the problem of a judge. The suggestion of using one of the Tuatha de Danaan was probably the best. At least he'd know they neither had been nor could be compelled by Dumbledore, whether before or during the trial. If even Draco, who *should* have been on the watch for that possibility, and likely had shields up, and Ehlana, who'd never even met the man before, and was not a mage, and so did not draw the magic into herself as his young dragon likely did, could be brought under Dumbledore's spell that quickly, then having any unnecessary humans in Dumbledore's presence would be dangerous to all concerned. Having a human judge was inadvisable.

Suddenly, Lucius became aware that there was something wrong. Although nothing showed on his face, the chair beneath him hardened in response to the sudden tensing of his body. He was in his own Manor, a place that should be entirely impervious to intrusion... but there was something wrong. He looked around slowly, as if he were simply searching for something, such as a book he'd put down and wanted to read. Nothing seemed out of place, nor was there anyone there. Not that he could see, at any rate.

He rose to his feet gracefully, and prowled, seemingly unconcerned, walking around much of the study, stopping to see if there was any business on his desk, or a message left on the mirror. Still, nothing was obviously wrong.

If he had been another man, Lucius might have simply thought he'd imagined it... whatever *it* was. But he was not. He trusted his instincts, and those instincts were telling him there was something different. Something he wasn't seeing.

He summoned a house elf.

"Master Lucius called for Moppy?" the house elf asked excitedly.

"Has anyone been in the study today?" he asked tensely.

"No, Master Lucius," Moppy shook her head. "Moppy has not seen anyone in Master's study today."

"Have there been any visitors to the Manor today?"

"No, Master Lucius," Moppy started pulling on her ears. "Moppy has not allowed any strangers into the Master's Manor."

Lucius frowned thoughtfully as he looked at the elf. There was something wrong with the way the house elf was answering, but he couldn't quite tell what it was. She wasn't lying, that would be impossible, but neither was she necessarily telling the whole truth. He dismissed the elf and turned back to the room. He pulled out his wand and held it by his side. With the wand, hopefully as a distraction, he sent his magic out, to feel if there was anything unusual in the room. He didn't feel anything, and finally settled back down.

He took another drink of the firewhiskey as he continued to look around the room. He observed everything as closely as he could, and still did not see anything out of place. Everything was where it should have been, nothing was missing, nor was there anything new in the room.

So what was setting off his alarms?

Could he simply be overstressed? Seeing enemies where there were none, simply because he didn't know what was happening with Dumbledore or Harry?

He placed his wand on the chair arm and settled back down. In response to his mood, the hardness eased slightly, but the chair was nowhere near as soft and comforting as it had been when he first sat down.

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Someone was watching him. That's what the feeling was. He checked the mirror again, thinking that perhaps Harry or Draco was watching him through it without making their presence known. Why either one would do that, he didn't know... well, perhaps Harry. Using the mirrors for more... eclectic uses... had come into his mind a time or two. The mirror, however, was empty. He checked his personal mirror, although since it was only linked to the one in the study, he did not believe it to be the problem. And he was correct; it was not.

It should be impossible to get a scrying spell through the wards on the Manor, but if that was what he was feeling, he knew how to get away from it until he had time to deal with it... and whomever was casting it. With an abrupt movement, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Scrying spells were single place spells, and it was almost impossible to use one on a moving target. Keeping it in a room was one thing, but on a person moving quickly down hallways and up stairs, was impossible.

But the feeling of being watched didn't leave. Not for long anyway.

A quick check of the wards showed them to be in perfect working order, including the ones that guarded against spying. So what was going on?

Perhaps a ghost? No, the ghosts of the Manor knew better than to do such a thing, nor did they have the ability to hide themselves. There was no such thing as an invisible ghost within Malfoy Manor. Invisibility would give them the ability to find out more than the Lord was interested in having them know.

Lucius moved through the Manor, keeping his awareness spread out around him. Always, the feeling of being watched stayed. It was like he was being stalked. It was beginning to get very… annoying. As he stepped into the library, he realized that he was irritated, but he wasn't truly afraid. No, that wasn't the right word. He was Lucius Malfoy, and it would take much more than a single stalker that had yet to do anything, to scare him. He wasn't receiving a feeling of danger from it. That was more like it. It was as if the stalker didn't mean anything bad... but if that was really true, he should show himself, not skulk around in whatever way he was doing.

Lucius finally decided that the only way to find out who was doing this was to set a trap. Let the person or thing believe they had lulled him into a false sense of security... then strike. He pulled a book from one of the shelves and settled himself down to read.

Thirty minutes passed with nothing changing, but Lucius was patient. It would be best for him, whomever he was, to get frustrated first. And then it happened. As Lucius sat, calmly pretending to read his book, he felt the intensifying of the watching, as if the watcher was contemplating a move and just measuring Lucius to make sure the move was unexpected.

Although nothing was heard, Lucius was sure whomever it was, was getting closer.

He was close. He knew it. He could almost feel the person breathing on him, if indeed it was a person.

There! Magic! Headed his way!

Immediately, he attacked, throwing a burst of pure magic backed by a pushing spell towards the location he'd figured out moments before.

He heard a thump as several books fell off a bookcase ten feet behind him.

With his wand in his hand, he whirled about and headed straight towards the spot. He reached down and grabbed. Whatever was there had to have some physical form, or the pushing spell would not have pushed him into the bookcases hard enough to cause the books to fall.

As he'd half expected, he felt cloth and pulled it away immediately, only to stop, completely flabbergasted.

"Harry?"

His husband grinned weakly up at him. "Um... surprise?"

Part 61/?

Night was just beginning as four female figures on silver-white steeds came upon the High Court. Hermione was reminded of her first glimpse of Hogwarts, a place of magic and mystery unlike anything she'd ever seen before. Stone that glowed golden in the light of the setting sun and rose high overhead, towers so thin and fragile looking it seemed as if they were floating in midair, for no other use but decoration, for surely they couldn't bear the weight of even a single soul. Trees that glittered in the light, throwing rainbows of colors off of their leaves, and were covered with sweet, ripe fruit, ringed the outermost wall.

The Elvensteed were treading on a magnificent marble causeway, metal shod hooves chiming musically. Together they rode into the courtyard, and there the breath of the two Overworld witches was completely taken away.

As magnificent as the castle was, as breathtaking as its surroundings might be, it was nothing compared to the people inside. Seeing Aine alone in no way had prepared the two girls for the unearthly beauty of a court full of Sidhe. Willowy, graceful, beautiful, exotic... all of these could be used to describe the Sidhe, but none of them touched upon their actual appearance. Lights twinkled, flowers bloomed, jewels sparkled, silk billowed, and all of it was but a backdrop for the ethereal glow of the people themselves.

Aine and Ehlana gracefully dismounted off of their steeds, but Hermione and Thyme could not make themselves get down. It wasn't that they were too stiff and sore from the unaccustomed riding, although they were. It was simply the fact that they would not be able to dismount with anywhere close to the fluid grace of their friend and her mother. The last thing either of them wished was to appear clumsy and uncoordinated to these beautiful people.

As they were sitting there, two tall men walked forward. "Goddess Aine," one said, bowing deeply. "You are ever welcome."

"Thank you, Luah," Aine answered politely. "Is King Nuada receiving?"

"He is," Luah answered in his deep voice. "May we help your companions down?"

"If you would please," Aine smiled.

Without another word, the two handsome men were standing by the side of the Elvensteed, each giving their hand to one of the still sitting witches. Hermione and Thyme both blushed deeply, even as they accepted the help and managed to land on their feet without looking too awkward. Their faces were still red as they walked over to Ehlana and Aine.

"You've got boyfriends," Ehlana whispered with a grin.

"Yes, and they're nice, but they never looked like those two," Thyme whispered back. Hermione had to agree. They might love their guys, but they most certainly did not look like *that*.

"This way," Aine told them, beginning to walk straight into one of the largest groups of people there. Ehlana grabbed her friends' hands and pulled them along after her.

"I would have thought you'd be trying to get away," Thyme couldn't help but remark.

"Here?" Ehlana scoffed. "If there are worse places to take off from, I don't know where they are. I wouldn't get more than half a kilometer before being picked up."

They followed the older... much, much older if truth was to be told... woman through the pack of people and into the presence of the King.

King Nuada Silverhand was sitting on a throne made of silver, etched with fabulous designs. Warriors stood at sentry around the perimeter of the room, and the king's sword was propped up, at the ready, next to his throne.

Upon seeing the Goddess of Healing, Nuada stood up with a smile. "It is good to see you again, Aine," he welcomed.

"And you as well, your Majesty," Aine answered as she dropped into a deep curtsey. Behind her, Ehlana curtsied as well and pulled Hermione and Thyme down with her. Thyme had no trouble with it, having learned the graces while she was younger. Hermione had never had classes in etiquette, but she did an admirable job. Aine introduced the children with her to the King and Court.

"What brings you to the Court?" Nuada asked, once he had gestured for everyone to stand.

Aine turned around, calling Ehlana forward. The girl stood with her mother, her eyes on the floor. "I would ask that one gifted in healing the mind, check my daughter."

Nuada frowned, but gestured another man forward from among those nearby. "Miach, will you do as Aine asked?"

The God of Natural Healing walked forward. Although, mental illnesses were not normally a part of his duties, it was something he was practiced at and had an affinity for. Gently, he took hold of Ehlana's head, and raised it up so he could look into her eyes. "Great Danu!" he swore. "Who has done this?"

"What did you find?" Nuada asked.

"She has been placed under a compulsion," Miach answered angrily. He abruptly let her go and turned to stalk out of the room.

Hermione and Thyme looked at each other in confusion.

"Do you know who has done this?" Nuada asked, his voice hard and his bearing every inch that of a warrior king.

Aine nodded at the girls, and Hermione stepped forward. "We believe it to be Dumbledore," she said confidently. "Ehlana, as well as Lucius Malfoy's son Draco, were there when your warriors captured our ex-Headmaster. Both of them returned from the capture with the determination to find Merlin and ask him to be the judge for Dumbledore's trial, no matter how we tried to talk them out of it."

"You do not believe that to be a good idea?" one of the king's advisors spoke up.

Hermione shook her head. "How could he be considered impartial?" she asked. "Although he has never met Harry Snape, Harry *is* his Heir."

There was a sudden outbreak of talking from around the room.

"His Heir?" Nuada asked. "Are you sure?"

Hermione looked confused but nodded. "According to a genealogy chart created by Rowena Ravenclaw, he is."

"Interesting," Nuada said with a blank face.

Thyme and Hermione traded a glance. Neither of them missed the fact that their news had surprised and even shocked King Nuada. It was obviously an important piece of information. The question now was, why?

That seemed to be the end of the conversation at that moment. Thyme and Hermione wandered around the room until they ended up in a corner. They felt frumpy and completely out of place in their dark school robes, in a room full of beautiful people in beautiful clothes.

They might have been staying out of the way, but they were also listening. They heard many comments about Merlin and his Heir, but never enough to put together into some semblance of an idea of whatever import their revelation had to the Sidhe.

It was unexpectedly hard to measure time here. It seemed fifteen minutes or so after the Celtic god had left the room, when he returned. He handed Ehlana a potion that she drank without a word. Once she had finished it, she blinked several times and shook her head.

"Do you still wish to go after Merlin?" Aine asked her daughter.

Ehlana frowned. "No, of course not," she answered. It took a moment for her to realize why she was being asked that. "How did it happen?" she asked.

"We're not sure yet," Aine said, pulling her into a hug. She turned to Nuada. "My King, do you have an answer?"

"I must admit, I do not... yet," Silverhand admitted.

Hermione moved forward once more. "Has it been discovered yet, which students Dumbledore spoke with?" she asked, hopefully.

Nuada tilted his head slightly. "He has proven to be most... obstructive."

Thyme moved forward then, but Miach was her target. "That potion you used; it breaks compulsions?" she asked carefully.

"That's correct," he answered.

"Do you have to know what the compulsion is, or who is under it?" was her next question.

Hermione and Ehlana drew themselves up to their full heights and looked at each other excitedly. If there was a potion that could break a compulsion *without* knowing what it was... that would take care of a great deal of their problems right there.

Miach considered the question. "It is not necessary to know what the compulsion is," he responded. "However, it is necessary that there *be* a compulsion. The consequences could be very bad, perhaps even fatal, if given to one who is not under such a geas."

They all sighed as their main hope was dashed. Yes, it could break an unknown compulsion, but they wouldn't be able to just give it to the entire school as they'd hoped. They *still* had to know who it was Dumbledore had spoken with, and that knowledge had not yet been drawn from the old mage.

However... Hermione looked at Aine and then Miach. "You both knew just by looking at her, that Ehlana was under a compulsion. Would you know if you looked at anyone?"

Miach thought over the question. "Perhaps." he admitted. "However, Ehlana, for all of her humanity, is very much of the Tuatha de Danaan. I am not sure if that contributed to the ease of discovery, or not. Whether it would be feasible for us to recognize such a spell on others of the human race that we do not know, I can not say."

Hermione walked over to him. "I am not aware of any compulsions I might be under, however, I have been one of Harry Potter's best friends since his first year at Hogwarts. I no longer trust Dumbledore not to have taken advantage of that fact. I would appreciate it if you would try to see if any compulsions have been placed upon me."

Miach agreed easily, and took her face into his hands, looking deep within her eyes. It was like a tingling sensation in her brain, not unpleasant, but not entirely relaxing, either. His eyes grew dark and he stepped back, turning towards the other Hogwarts student in the room. Without even waiting to ask or be asked, he took her head in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. When he stepped back, he turned towards his King and scowled. "Both of them are under compulsions. I was not able to tell what they were, but this child's," he placed his hand on Hermione's shoulder, "is of several years duration, while her friend," he nodded at Thyme, "has been under one for less than a year."

Thyme nodded. "That makes sense. I really only became someone Harry and his friends talked to within the last ten months or so."

Miach turned to face them once more, looking at them all, considering. "Do you know someone who is beyond competent at brewing?"

They all nodded. "Professor Snape," Hermione spoke up. "He's the youngest Potions Master in England. He's extremely good."

"I will send you with a copy of the recipe I used on Ehlana, and will use upon you. However, to use it, you must know who needs it. I will try to teach this young one," he nodded at Thyme. "I believe she has the ability to see more than most, as well as a natural ability to heal and a high level of empathy. All are necessary to become a Soul Healer. It will take some time for you to learn all of this. Do you feel you can?" this time he was speaking directly to her.

Thyme nodded seriously. "My grandmother is a Healer, and I have always planned to follow in her footsteps. I will gladly learn all you are willing to teach me."

Miach nodded his agreement, then with a short bow to the King, led his new apprentice out of the room.

"Do not despair of the time," Nuada said kindly to Hermione, who was, indeed, worrying about that. "Time passes differently here than it does in your world. We have the time here for her to learn this, without placing anyone there in danger because of tardiness. However, we cannot just have you wandering around unsupervised. Is there somewhere in particular you would like to go?"

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Do you have a library?" she asked, almost worshipfully.

One of the courtiers laughed. He had watched everything that happened. With knowing eyes, he introduced himself to Hermione, "Indeed we do, young one. I will show you the way. I am Ecne."

Hermione's eyes went wide. "The Celtic God of Knowledge," she breathed in awe. She happily followed him out of the room.

"You may rest assured, Lady Aine," Nuada smiled to her. "Your guests will be well taken care of."

"I thank you, my King," she curtsied deeply, then led her daughter out of the room and to the guest chambers where they would be staying. It was past time to get some sleep.

Part 62/?

~~As he'd half expected, he felt cloth and pulled it away immediately, only to stop, completely flabbergasted.

"Harry?"

His husband grinned weakly up at him. "Um... surprise?"

"Surprise?" Lucius snarled out. He reached down and grabbed hold of Harry's arm, dragging him to his feet. "You think this is a good *surprise*? I could have killed you!"

"You wouldn't have!" Harry disagreed immediately.

"I didn't know it was you!" he growled. "All I knew was that there was someone around who wasn't showing their face, stalking me! Yes, I only used a pushing charm, but what if I hadn't? What if I'd cursed or hexed you? Did you even *think* about that before you decided on this stupid stunt?" By this time his hands were gripping both of Harry's arms, and it was only his iron self-control that kept him from shaking the life out of the boy.

He pulled Harry over to the couch and forced him down. "Sit down and explain to me exactly what the *hell* you were thinking!" he practically roared.

Harry's eyes were wide. He didn't think he'd ever seen Lucius so angry, at least not at him. He gulped. "Well, it was just... aside from us, Draco and Dad are the only ones that could come here, and I knew neither of them had spoken to Dumbledore, so I figured it would be safe to come here for the night. Besides, I missed you."

Lucius shook his head. "That doesn't explain a thing. Yes, you are correct that it's probably safe to visit here. However, that does not mean it's safe to wander around under an Invisibility Cloak and try to sneak up on an ex-Death Eater mage!"

"You're not dangerous to me," Harry disagreed.

"When I know it's you, I'm not," Lucius admitted through gritted teeth. "However, if I *don't* know it's you, I'm capable of quite a bit. Think about it Harry! You're not stupid, so open your mind and *think*. What would have happened if I had used a curse? Not only to you, but what would have happened to our child?" His voice gentled as he knelt down in front of Harry and placed his hand on his lover's stomach to emphasize his question. He frowned. "Dear Salazar, something is wrong," he gasped, as his hand encountered a hardness he wasn't expecting.

He reached and pulled up Harry's blouse until he could see the small bulge. His hands gently touched and palpitated the taut skin. "We need to get you to Madam Faire, now," he ordered. "I'll never forgive myself if I've harmed either of you."

Suddenly all confusion and worry went out of Harry's expression at the anguish obvious in his husband's voice and face.

"It's okay," he hurried to reassure him. "I already talked to Madam Faire about it this morning. It's fine." He placed his hands over Lucius'. "This is where the baby is growing," he told him, smiling slightly. "As it grows, the walls of my womb are pushing against my abdomen to get more room. That's why it's hard."

Lucius looked at their hands, resting gently on the black-haired young wizard's stomach. His baby, Draco's little brother, was growing right there, under his hands His expression of awe only lasted a moment, until what could have happened hit him even harder.

"I would have thought this alone would have stopped you from doing something as stupid as what you did," he glared at Harry as he spoke.

This time Harry's eyes lowered as he began to really think of everything that had happened. Lucius was right. He should have thought twice about his 'fun little idea'. It wasn't turning out so fun any more, was it? "You're right," he conceded. "It was really stupid."

"Yes, it was," Lucius didn't let up for a second. "So *why* did you do it?"

Harry reached into his pocket. "Well, I was talking to Jeri, because she was the only one I could tell about this," he pressed his free hand against his stomach once more. "Anyway, she took me to this... um... place, yeah, it was just a place," he stuttered. "And, well, I saw this, and I remembered what you said, and I thought it would be fun," he rushed through his explanation even as he pulled out the collar that had caught his attention in the store.

Lucius looked at it and realized what it was and what Harry was saying. He shook his head. "What you *should* have done, was come to the study... let me see you. I would have let you chase me all over the Manor if that was what you wanted. But you should never have tried to sneak up on me! That was the irresponsible and idiotic part! When I told you that you could only put that on me if you caught me, I did not mean that you should sneak up on me to do it. I needed to know what was happening, so I didn't react like I did today," he said intently.

"I didn't think," Harry admitted.

"No, you didn't. You know better than that," Lucius reminded him.

"Yes, sir," Harry muttered.

"That's enough," Lucius barked. "I'm not your father, and I don't expect you to say 'sir' or obey orders if we're not playing. I just need you to think things through. You can't take chances like that... for either of you."

"I know," Harry agreed again.

Lucius moved up onto the couch and pulled Harry into his arms to cuddle him. He'd been so scared the moment he realized what could have happened. The idea that *he* could have been the reason Harry or their child was hurt, was horrifying.

It seemed that Harry finally understood what had Lucius so upset. He thought of what would happen if he'd snuck up on someone else like that, or if it had happened while Voldemort was about. He could very well have been hit by a curse that would have done serious damage. Truthfully, if the push hadn't been surrounded by unfocused magic, it probably would have done some damage. Luckily, he had been able to let that magic go straight through him, but it would have been dangerous for anyone else. He started breathing deeply and shivering slightly, cuddling deeper into his husband's lap.

Lucius ran his hand through Harry's hair, using the petting motion to calm them both down. "The next time you want to surprise me, just showing up in the study will do just fine," he said softly. He didn't want to badger Harry about it, but he had to make sure that it *never* happened again. If he had been in a worse mood... if he had felt threatened, or had gotten any more annoyed... it would have been a lot worse. Just that push could have hurt his husband, especially if he'd hit something hard, or if he'd been turned the wrong way.

"I will," Harry agreed. He twisted around until he could look his husband in the eyes. "I promise."

"Thank you," Lucius said gratefully. He nodded down at the collar Harry had let drop onto the couch. "Do you still want to...?" he asked.

Harry shook his head. "Not right now," he admitted. "I'm not in the mood any more."

Lucius was silent for a moment, just stroking. Then he remembered something else Harry had said. "So, exactly what type of place did Jeri take you, anyway? Especially if it was somewhere you could find something like 'that'."

Harry blushed. "It was a sex store. Merlin, I was embarrassed. She thought I needed something to take care of myself when you weren't around."

"What's wrong with your hands?" Lucius asked, even as he thought about what kinds of things Harry might have been looking at. "You're very good with them, as I have reason to know."

"It just... doesn't feel right if you're not there, or at least watching," Harry admitted.

"So?" Lucius murmured. "Call me up on the mirror. I'm sure I'll enjoy the show."

"What?" Harry squawked. "Mirror sex?"

"Certainly," Lucius leered. "I could even tell you what to do if you wanted."

Harry's eyes glazed as he thought over that idea.

Lucius suddenly frowned. "Do you mean you don't even have a wank if I'm not there?"

"Well, no," Harry said. "It wouldn't seem right. We're married, after all."

Lucius kissed him hard. "Married isn't the same as dead," he said when he let him up for air. "You're a teenaged male with the hormones of a pregnant woman running through you. When you're away from me, I don't expect you to be asexual, just solitary."

Lucius suddenly moved his arms so he was cradling Harry, then surged to his feet. "Obviously," he smirked as he headed towards the door, "we have quite a bit of time to make up."

Harry wrapped his arms around Lucius' neck and smiled as he was carried out of the study. His smile turned a little devilish as he gestured towards the collar left behind and it flew into his hands. Just because he wasn't in the mood to play with it now, didn't mean that he wouldn't want it later. It was better to be prepared.

The Malfoy Lord carried his husband up to the bedroom they'd shared for only a single week. It was only while he was settling Harry onto the bed that he realized what the boy was wearing. The blouse and skirt were appealing, but a little skimpy for the weather.

Harry seemed to read his mind as he chuckled. "I took off the heavy stuff once I came inside. It might be cold out there, but the Manor's surprisingly warm."

"All the better for me," Lucius murmured as he dove in for a kiss.

Harry embraced him eagerly, having missed the unique flavor that was Lucius Malfoy. It seemed as if Lucius couldn't get enough of Harry, either, as he pulled away to nibble down his neck, before heading back to his mouth for another round. For long minutes they did nothing but kiss.

It wasn't until Harry started pressing himself upward, pushing against the solid body above him, that they moved on. Slowly, clothes came off, skin pressed against skin. Fingers touched and glided, pinched and played. Legs and arms intertwined. Gasps and moans echoed through the chamber, when they weren't muffled by pieces of their lover's anatomy. Hardness rubbed against hardness, and then farther back, until finally they were one.

A shout of completion, a scream of a name, panting murmurs of "I love you."

A gentle settling, slowly cooling. Quiet, sleepy voices, tender chuckles. Cuddling and snuggling, pressing together.

Darkness, followed by the silence of peaceful sleep.

Part 63/?

Ehlana sighed. She figured she was spoiled. She'd spent nine years of her life here in Underhill. She had friends, though mostly adults, and had learned a lot. Ever since she'd been rescued from her drunken father, she'd had a wonderful life; she knew that. Never once since she came had she doubted that she was loved. Well, okay, never had anyone here done anything to make her doubt she was loved. Her own insecurities had caused occasional moments of doubt. She loved it here, and had wanted to come back. Now she had. And she was lonely.

It had only been a month since she had met Harry and been brought into his circle of friends. Only a month, and yet it seemed like so much more. There weren't very many children Underhill. Few were human; fewer still were of the Tuatha de Danaan. She'd never had a really close friend of her own age until she left. She sometimes found it hard to believe how quickly the close-knit group had accepted her, but she knew she was now a part of their group, and it felt wonderful.

Now, however, she was back home. And even though two of her friends were with her, they both had things to do. Thyme was busy with Miach, learning to expand upon the basics of healing she already knew, and strengthening her empathy until it was strong enough to *see* compulsions. Hermione had only left the library to eat and sleep, and she wouldn't even be doing that if Ecne didn't force the issue. All in all, it meant Ehlana was left alone, something that she used to like, but was finding wearing on her nerves at the moment.

"Hello, Ehlana," a voice said melodiously.

"Lady Airmid," Ehlana jumped to her feet as she realized the one speaking to her was Miach's sister, Goddess of Herbs and Herb-Lore. "May I help you?"

"My brother needs some herbs, that only grow here in Underhill, for the potion needed to break compulsions. I thought you might wish to come with me to harvest them," Airmid offered.

"I'd love to," Ehlana said immediately. It would be great to have something to do. "I just need to tell my mother where I'm going."

"That's all right," Airmid said softly. "I already spoke to Aine and she gave her permission. We need to leave now if we plan on being back before nightfall."

Ehlana blinked and wondered how far they were going if they were going to be gone all day. She decided to just follow along for now.

They rode for over an hour, ending up in a deep patch of woods. Airmid showed her the plant they were looking for, warning her about taking more than one flower from each. Her eyes went wide when she then told her they'd have to gather at least a hundred flowers for the amount of potion they'd need to make, and that more would be best. It was going to be a long day.

It turned out not to be as bad as Ehlana expected. The plants were relatively easy to find and the flowers came away without much trouble.

"I must admit, I had another reason for asking you to come," Airmid said softly as they met back up at the horses to lay in their harvest.

Ehlana looked at her warily. That didn't sound good. She'd begun to internalize her Slytherin friends' attitude; she recognized this and wondered if she was becoming as paranoid as they were. "What do you mean?" she asked intently. Airmid had a good reputation, much like her brother or her own mother's, but it was still a worry.

"There's someone that wished to speak with you," Airmid smiled reassuringly even as she nodded to the side. Ehlana looked up and her eyes grew wide. She knew that person. She'd seen his pictures before Although the hair and beard were long and white, somewhat reminiscent of Dumbledore, though not quite that long, his bearing and appearance was not 'doddering old fool' but 'warrior mage' He reminded her far more of King Nuada than what little she'd seen of the old Headmaster.

He rode closer until he pulled up in front of them, and drew his leg lithely over his horse's back as he dismounted. As he stood in front of her, Ehlana couldn't restrain a gasp. Portraits abounded about this legendary figure, and his face was well known, but she'd never realized that his eyes were the exact same shade of green as Harry's.

"You must be Ehlana MacLir," he murmured in a deep but nice voice.

"Y-yes sir," she gasped out.

"I hope you don't mind that I had Lady Airmid set up this meeting, but I've been hearing rumors about an Heir, and I was informed that you might know this person," Merlin explained.

Ehlana just nodded, still too stunned to respond in any other way.

"Can you tell me about him?" the elder mage prompted.

"You've got his eyes," Ehlana blurted. She blushed and shook her head. "Or I guess, he's got your eyes. But they're the exact same color."

"That does make it more likely he's actually related to me," Merlin admitted thoughtfully. "My eye color was fairly rare when last I set foot on Overworld."

"Hermione Granger would really be the best one to talk to," Ehlana suggested almost painfully. She really wished to speak to the man, but she was not the best source of information, and she felt it was important. "She's known him since he started school, I only met him a month or so ago."

"You know enough for now," Merlin waved away her concerns and led her to a patch of grass, sitting easily, with no signs of his extreme age. Ehlana might have been more impressed with that if she wasn't with someone that had outlived him by over a thousand years and yet looked only in her early thirties. Still, Merlin was supposedly human, so the long life *was* something to appreciate.

"Tell me about him," Merlin ordered.

Ehlana talked.

There was much she still didn't know about the Savior of the wizarding world, but she knew enough to tell the older mage some about his birth and childhood. In truth, she knew little more than the fact that he had been abused and made to do all the work at his aunt and uncle's. About his friends, she could speak a bit more, and did. She talked about the things that had happened since she met them, the finding of Gryffindor, the uniting of the Houses, the research that seemed never-ending but was made enjoyable because of the company. She told of the Genealogy room being found off of the library, the way it showed a wizard's pedigree through lines lighting a path between two names called out, and the way it could trace out indirect relationships and find Heirs. She explained how they all played with it, calling out people they knew, to see if they could find relationships between them, how Harry had brought the adults to see it, and how his husband had found the lines leading between Merlin and Harry.

"After the reporters explained what they had seen, we all went back into the room and redid it. We still came up with the same results. And every one that we could check came out correct. Neville was the Gryffindor Heir, and he was the first one in five hundred years able to open the door to Godric Gryffindor's Keep. We checked the Weasley line... that was fun," she said, almost sarcastically. "I know there are jokes around about the Weasleys having extraordinary fertility, but why they haven't taken over the world I don't know. There's got to be hundreds of them, yet Ron and his sister are the only ones at Hogwarts. I thought that was kind of strange."

"Is this 'Harry' the child of two mages?" Merlin asked intently.

Ehlana shook her head immediately.

"Are you sure?" he asked, frowning.

"Positive," she answered. "I don't remember what they said his father's animagus form was, but it was a normal animal; I remember that coming up once."

Merlin sighed. "Then he is not my Heir," he replied. "If, as you say, he has my eyes, than he is undoubtedly descended from me, and is likely my blood heir. However, my Heir, my true Heir, must be the child of two mages."

"So maybe it's his baby," Ehlana considered.

"His baby?" Merlin asked, perplexed.

Ehlana gasped and her hand went up to cover her mouth. "Didn't I tell you he was pregnant?"

"No, I do not believe that was spoken of," Merlin responded, his expression intent once more.

Ehlana nodded. "He's about three months pregnant, and both he and his husband are mages. In fact, he didn't do any spell nor take a potion to get pregnant, his magic did it just because he wanted a child."

Merlin rose gracefully to his feet. "I believe I have everything I need at the moment. I will, perhaps, speak to you again. Lady Airmid," he nodded his head towards them both and remounted his Elvensteed.

Ehlana watched him go, then turned to the woman with her. "Do we have all we need?" she asked, moving towards their own steeds as she spoke.

"I believe so," Airmid responded.

"Good," Ehlana swung onto her horse's back. "Because I need to speak with my friends."

Focused on her thoughts, she turned the steed's head back the way they came, and set off at a determined pace.


	19. Chapter 65 and 66 yes, I skipped 64

I hadn't actually planned on cutting 64 out altogether, but I couldn't figure out how to only cut some of it out without it looking awful and unfinished. So you get a short section this time.

Part 65/?

To those who had been left behind, it had been five long days. To those who had been gone, it had been four even longer months. But finally they had returned. Ehlana, Hermione and Thyme walked into the Great Hall for lunch as if they'd never been gone. The only difference to be seen being the clothing they were wearing; light, gauzy and very flattering to their figures, figures some of the boys never even knew they had.

"Hermione!" Ron yelled across the room as soon as he saw her. He jumped to his feet and ran towards her, sweeping her into a hug as soon as he reached her. Neville was right behind him, though much more reserved in the hug he laid on his girlfriend. At the very least, he didn't pick her up and try to squeeze the stuffing out of her.

Draco was much more refined in his manner, quietly walking over to Ehlana, and placing a kiss on the back of her hand in greeting. "Are you well?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Draco. Thank you for asking," Ehlana smiled prettily at him.

Draco, with the help of Blaise and Roan, managed to get all of them out of the hall and down to one of the unused classrooms they had taken over. At which point Ron finally noticed what his girlfriend was wearing and started having a snit fit over it.

"Do be quiet, Weasley," Draco sneered. "She looks quite nice." He gave her a measuring look, and was surprised that she didn't even blush. "I wasn't aware you had a figure, Granger," he said, in the closest thing to a compliment he would give Weasley's girlfriend.

"It's not my fault you're blind," Hermione shot back.

Draco just grinned at her while Ron gaped.

"It seems as if you all had a good time during your absence," Professor Snape's voice could not be mistaken for anyone else's.

Thyme pulled away from Neville's arm with an apologetic glance. She walked over to her Head of House and handed him a sheet of parchment. "You need to make this," she explained.

"What is it?" Severus asked, frowning. He read over the recipe. It was nothing he'd ever seen before, and in fact some of the ingredients he'd never even heard of.

Ehlana handed him a bag. "This is the Rialus flower," she handed him another, "and this is Trakorus powder."

"And what exactly, does this potion do?" Snape asked as he took the bags. He wanted to go start on it immediately. New potions were very rare, new ingredients were even more rare; he wanted to find out the properties of the items in the bags. But, most of all, he wanted to know what the girls had been doing that would cause them to be gone for so long. And what they had learned about Dumbledore.

Thyme looked up at him with begging eyes. "Please, Professor, it's really important that this is made as soon as possible, especially before we start talking about what happened." Snape looked at her and seemed to be about to ask more questions. "On Salazar's Honor, sir, it is that important."

Severus' eyes widened slightly before narrowing infinitesimally, but he nodded sharply and left for his workshop.

"What just happened?" Ron blinked.

Blaise, who had come in behind the professor, explained, "The oath Thyme gave is only used when it's something not quite 'end of the world' important, but close."

Thyme nodded. "It is that critical," she explained. "Will you all sit down? There's something I need to do. I learned how from a Healer in Underhill."

Slowly, but willingly, everyone followed her directions. One by one she walked over to them and looked deep into their eyes, with her hands on either side of their heads. Once she was done, she sat back down with her patient boyfriend. "What was that all about?" Neville asked, lightly.

"I'll tell you when the potion is done," she murmured.

"Hopefully, it's not a potion that will take long to brew," Draco might not have been asking anything, but Thyme understood the nuances.

"It shouldn't be," she answered back easily.

"Well, since we can't talk about anything serious until that potion is done, or whatever, I will ask again; what in Merlin's name are you wearing?" Ron spouted, still scandalized.

Hermione laughed. "This is normal daywear Underhill," she explained. She'd felt dreadfully on display the first couple of days, but it was better than looking dowdy, like she felt in her school clothes.

"But this isn't Underhill," Ron complained.

"Yes, I know, it's much colder here," Hermione agreed with a shiver. The other two girls chorused their agreement. The boys carefully hid their reactions to the predictable female physical response to the chill air.

Ehlana immediately felt herself cocooned in warmth and she smiled over at Draco, who she knew had to be the one to put the warming spell on her. She would have preferred if he'd put his arm around her like Neville and Ron were doing with their ladies, but she understood his type of reputation, even here among friends. Of course, what he couldn't do, she could. She scooted over next to him, and pulled his arm up and around her shoulders, snuggling into his side.

They talked of minor things for the fifteen minutes it took the Potions Master to brew the new potion. He brought the cauldron with him into the room they were using. "I believe it's done," he offered.

Hermione got up and went over to examine it. "It looks and smells right," she admitted.

"So, now will you explain what it is?" Snape asked.

Thyme shook her head. "Not quite yet, I'm sorry. Will you sit down, please?" She got up and walked over to him, taking his head into her hands. "It's okay, I just need to check something. Just relax. Salazar's Honor, professor, I'm not going to hurt you."

Seconds later, she backed away and walked over to the cauldron. She conjured up five cups and filled them with the potion. "Everyone except for Blankenship needs to drink this," she said, handing the cups around.

"What about you?" Ron asked, pointing to all the girls.

"We already had it," Hermione explained.

All five of those holding the cups looked at each other and then at the girls, who were watching them carefully. As one, they all, even Snape, drank the potion down.

Ron and Neville were the only ones to show much reaction, and that was simply rapid eye-blinking and shaking of the head, as if to get cobwebs out.

"Now, what exactly was that, and why did we drink it without knowing what it was?" Severus asked. This time, he would not accept anything except a full answer. And it had better be a good one.

"It was a compulsion breaker," Ehlana explained. "Miach, he's the God of Natural Healing, taught Thyme to spot compulsions. You can't use the potion on anyone that isn't under one, so unfortunately we can't just give it to the entire school. Luckily, you don't have to know what the compulsion is to break it, like you do with the way you and Neville do it."

"Unfortunately, that means we also don't know what Dumbledore was trying," Severus said thoughtfully. "However, I do believe having the compulsions removed is preferable. You made the correct choice. And of course, since we don't know what the compulsions were, not knowing they were being broken was the best choice, since we might also have been under a compulsion against such breaking."

"Exactly," Thyme agreed.

"So Roan didn't have any compulsions on him?" Blaise asked.

"That's right," Thyme answered. "I guess since he wasn't a part of our group until just recently, Dumbledore had no reason to place one on him."

"Does that mean you're going to have to go through the entire school to find out who has a compulsion on them?" Ron asked in disbelief.

Thyme nodded. "It's the best way we can think of. Dumbledore's stubborn, and he hasn't told the Sidhe anything important. It shouldn't be too hard. I do want to start with the teachers, though."

"Probably the best idea," the Deputy Headmaster agreed.

"So, now will you tell us what happened while you were gone?" Blaise complained.

The girls looked at each other thoughtfully. "Nah," they said in unison.

"Not until Harry and his husband are here," Hermione told them.

She got frowned at by the ones who thought they'd been patient enough already, but Draco pulled out his mirror and called the last two wizards needed for the meeting. Ten minutes later, Jade and Lucius walked through the door; both of them in a good mood that nobody really wanted to know the reason behind.

"How are you?" Severus asked immediately, pulling his son, who was dressed as a girl, into his arms.

"I'm fine," Harry murmured, hugging back with all of his might. He pulled back and lifted up his shirt. "Here, feel," he ordered.

Severus did, and looked up at his very happy son in confusion. "What is it?"

"It's where my baby is growing," Harry explained happily.

Before any more could be said, Harry was practically smothered as the girls ran forward to feel. Draco, however, got there first. After all, the baby was his little brother.

Only once everyone had managed to feel the small bulge, did they all get down to business.

Ehlana practically bounced in her seat. "I met Merlin!" she crowed.

"You did?" practically everyone shouted. Questions started flying, fast and furious.

"You've got his eyes, Harry," she explained. "They're exactly the same color. However, he says that you might be his blood heir, but you're not his true Heir. His true Heir has to be the child of two mages."

Harry's hands immediately flew to his stomach. "Which means what?" he asked.

"We're not sure," Hermione admitted. "We've been searching through the entire library at High Court, and we never managed to find out, but it was obvious that some of the people knew what it was about. They just wouldn't talk to us about it."

"Perhaps someone else should go *talk* to them about it," Lucius murmured, his voice dangerously soft.

Hermione shook her head. "I really doubt you'd be able to intimidate King Nuada," she offered.

"What did O'Feahr say about all this?" Snape asked, every bit as dangerously unhappy as his friend.

"Connor?" Ehlana blinked. She looked around the room. "He's not here, so how would he know? Where is he, anyway?"

Glances were exchanged around the room. "He didn't find you?" Draco asked carefully.

"Find us where?"

Snape explained. "Four hours, our time, after you left, he followed you Underhill."

Hermione shook her head. "We never saw him," she answered. She looked around at the two other girls in the room, but they shook their heads worriedly as well. Neither of them had seen him and forgotten to tell her.

"Where could he be?" Ehlana asked worriedly.

Nobody had an answer.

Part 66/?

The next several weeks went by quickly, though more quickly for some. Thyme found herself busier than she had ever been, first checking through the teachers, all of whom needed the potion, and then through the school population. Her grandmother had luckily returned to the school by this time, and she managed to keep Thyme from overworking. As expected, most of the younger students were compulsion free, except for three Ravenclaw second years, a couple of Slytherin third years, and a Gryffindor first. Why those students, and those students alone out of the younger three grades needed the potion, was unknown even by them. As Snape had pointed out, getting rid of the compulsion they didn't know they had didn't bring forth an answer, but at least it eliminated a possible problem source.

Once the younger grades were certified safe, Harry took a place in the DADA teaching roster. He and Draco teamed up, he teaching the bookwork while Draco took the practicals. Ron and Hermione also began to team teach in the same way. Not wanting to be the only one stuck doing both, Blaise dragged his boyfriend in to take over the lectures. Even Ehlana found herself teaching at least one class per grade on the differences between wizarding magic and that of the Tuatha de Danaan.

That still left the top three grades for Lucius and Severus to instruct. Although they felt confident that the Sixth Years, and one Seventh, could handle Fifth Year as well, they didn't believe it would be fair to anyone. Especially not with the O.W.L.s coming up.

Ehlana had sent a message Underhill, asking after the whereabouts of Connor, but no reply had been received. Headmistress McGonagall had decided to give him one more week before searching for someone to take his place. Everyone would be happy when that time came, since none of them had any free time to do the research they desperately wanted to do, or for anything else for that matter. And, any time for fun was simply out of the question.

The middle table was being used, but it was not really necessary any longer. The Houses were no longer jealously guarding their tables; no one cared anymore where people sat, except during feasts.

Harry was at least reasonably happy, but only because Lucius managed to stay overnight several times a week. Of course, that led to other problems, mainly couples who wanted to have Promise ceremonies and be allowed to live together. So far, McGonagall had managed to put them off, but some of them would not be put off for much longer. That would, of course, mean a meeting of the Board, since it would require changing school guidelines. Lucius and Harry had managed to bypass those by having the ceremony during summer vacation, but there would be some people who would complain that he got preferential treatment. Harry had noted that really, they hadn't been assigned special rooms. Could Harry help that as a Parselmouth, he had access into the Chamber of Secrets? Too bad that was not a politic response.

Another problem came up that should have been considered earlier. Now that the contraceptive potion was no longer in the pumpkin juice, there had been a couple of *accidents*. It was decided that a special class on contraceptive spells and potions would be given. Severus got roped into helping the two mediwitches give the class, something that put him into an even worse mood than he'd already been. His students were surprised; they had been sure *that* couldn't happen.

Severus Snape was being an absolute bear to practically everyone, but refused to give a reason. Harry was the only one that could stand him for any length of time, and even they ended up yelling at each other if they spent much time together. Harry kept going back, though. He knew that no matter how loudly Severus yelled, or how viciously he cursed, there was no way his father was going to actually harm him, and Harry could give as good as he got. Too bad others didn't feel the same way.

Sirius and Remus had returned once again; this time thanks to a note sent by Hermione. She had finally decided it was better for all concerned that those two wizards take care of the DADA classes. There were a number of red faces once it was explained what she had done, mostly by people who were wondering why they hadn't thought of it themselves. The two men had been exploring Hufflepuff's home, with the full permission of the first owner, and hadn't realized what was going on back at the school before they received the letter. Once at Hogwarts, Remus gathered together most of the students who had been teaching their peers, to find out what they'd been doing, while Sirius headed towards the dungeons, to talk to Snape and Harry.

"What the heck is your problem?" Harry was yelling as Sirius approached the doorway.

"I don't have a problem," Severus hissed back.

Sirius slowed to a stop. He didn't actually *want* to eavesdrop, but he couldn't bring himself to leave if Harry might be in trouble. Or so he told himself.

"Oh, right, because you always throw things while grading third year essays," Harry said in a patronizing tone.

"Don't take that tone of voice with me," Severus growled.

"Or what? You'll take House points? No one really cares too much about those anymore. Perhaps you'll ground me? A little severe for giving my father a talking to," Harry shot back.

"It's not your job," Sirius could practically hear the scowl he knew must be on Snape's face.

"Who else is going to do it? You've got everyone so scared of you that they're not coming anywhere near you! Even Spitfire doesn't want to spend time with you right now!"

"And that should tell you something!"

"Yeah, it tells me you've got a problem you're not telling anyone about!" Harry yelled right back.

Sirius was frowning from where he was eaves... er, listening. Snape shouldn't be yelling at his godson like that. Harry was just trying to help.

"And if I do have a problem, it's just that. *My* problem!" Snape snarled.

Sirius jerked as he heard something shatter. That was it. If the greasy git was throwing things at Harry, it was time to intervene. Without thinking any more about it, Sirius burst into the room, wand out.

He found himself Stunned before he got more than five paces into the room. As soon as Harry realized who it was, he released the spell, and happily threw himself at his godfather. "Sirius!"

The animagus wrapped his arms around his godson and glared at his rival over Harry's head. "What was going on in here?" he growled.

Harry just grinned at him. "Oh, dad's just being a prat," he said airily.

Severus scowled at his son, glared at the man he was holding, then turned on his heel and headed out the door.

Harry frowned and separated from his godfather to run after him. That was not the reaction he'd been expecting. He'd thought Severus would yell at them some more. He was hoping that if they yelled at each other enough, his father would eventually get to what was bothering him. After all, nothing else seemed to work.

He reached the door Severus had walked through, only to find it locked. He looked at it in confusion. Severus had never locked him out before.

"Dad?" he called uncertainly through the door.

There was no answer.

"Harry, if he doesn't want to talk to you, let him go," Sirius ordered.

Harry turned to look at him. "I can't do that," he frowned.

Sirius frowned right back. "He was throwing things at you."

Harry shook his head before nodding towards one corner of the room where there was a collection of glass. "He would never do anything to hurt me. I thought you'd gotten that by now," he said, annoyed.

"I didn't think he'd yell at you either," Sirius said, displeased.

"It's better than the brooding he's been doing," Harry replied. "He's been a complete bear lately, and nobody knows why."

"Maybe he needs to get laid," Sirius snorted.

Harry tilted his head. As he thought about that, he grinned slightly. "Could be," he admitted, though he didn't actually believe it. "After all, everyone else is paired up." He walked back over to the door and knocked. "Hey, Dad!" he called out. There was silence, but he didn't let it dissuade him this time. "Sirius thinks your problem is you need to get laid. You want me to set you up with someone? I hear the Weasley twins think you're sexy."

The door was pulled violently open. "If you even *think* of doing such a thing, I'm going to ground you until your *child* is seventy!" he growled.

Harry just laughed at him, not worried in the least.


	20. Chapter 67, 68, 69 and 70

Part 67/?

Harry looked out the window towards the quidditch pitch. It seemed as if everything had changed in an instant.

Connor had reappeared, not saying much about where he had been, just a red-faced admission that he was more human than he had thought. Privately, the students believed that meant he had gone to find Merlin under a compulsion from Dumbledore. At least he had returned with some good news. Morann, who had been Judge at the Court of Conacht, had been agreed upon as the Judge by both the Sidhe and Dumbledore. Lucius also agreed he had no problem with the man, who, it was said, could not give a wrong judgment.

King Nuada had agreed to send Dumbledore to the Overworld with a squad of his warriors as guards. It would take more than even the ex-Headmaster had in order to get away from them. Especially considering how long it took them to capture him in the first place. They considered that a stain upon their honor, and were determined nothing untoward would happen again.

Of course, then another problem came to light. Where was the trial going to be held? As much as Lucius might wish to keep this a closed courtroom, it was not going to happen. Too many people believed they had a stake in it. Too many people wouldn't believe whatever was reported without seeing it themselves. It was going to have to be a public trial Yet, it had to be protected, especially if Harry was going to be there, which as the accuser, he truly had to be. Then of course, there was the fact that several portraits felt the need to be there, so they needed a place with walls. Not that they particularly wanted a place without walls, but if they could have been able to hold court outside, it would have taken care of the space problem.

They had considered holding the trial in the Great Hall. Harry was sure he could expand the room even more, as he had done to put in the fifth table. It was safe, thanks to it being a Sanctuary, and they wouldn't have to worry about moving the Founders' portraits. There was even a kind of ironic justice in bringing the old man to trial in the place he'd ruled for so long. However, to do so would raise other problems. One, most especially- the fact that there was the possibility Dumbledore still had tricks or traps set up around the school, ones they didn't know about. It was not a chance they could take. As much as Lucius and Severus didn't want Harry away from the safety of the school, another location would have to be chosen.

Finally, the goblins came through... for a fee, of course. They also had the ability to expand the rooms in Gringott's and make the inside larger than the outside. At least it would be a neutral place; the goblins didn't care one way or another about politics in the wizarding world as long as business continued. They also said that the portraits could move there for the duration of the trial, as long as they understood that there were charms in the walls that would not allow them to move outside their own frames.

Finding a prosecutor and defender had not been difficult. Lucius had decided to handle the prosecution himself; he would not allow anyone else to have that pleasure. However, in order not to show too much favoritism, he had allowed Dumbledore to have the defender he chose, Mad-Eye Moody. Thyme had checked him out, over his strenuous objections, but had found no evidence of compulsions within him.

McGonagall was not happy. She had been trying her best to keep the school going as close to normal operation as possible, regardless of changes in administration, a missing Defense Professor, a pregnant, married student who tended to disappear without a moment's notice, and compulsions found on every teacher and a great number of the students. Now there was the trial. A trial that most of the older students, and some of the younger, wished to attend. A trial that some of the students *had* to attend, at least part of the time. Once again, the daily life and schedule of the school was going to be disrupted in a major way. How were the students supposed to study if their minds were taken up with things like this?

Severus was busy making the most potent Veritaserum he could. He was not taking any chances on the wily old mage being able to work his way around it, even though that *should* be impossible. He was also working on a truth potion that would work adequately, but not be dangerous to his unborn grandchild. He knew the judge would require Harry to be under a truth serum when he testified.

As he worked, Severus grimaced slightly as he remembered the threat Harry had used on him before, when he was in such a bad mood. The Weasley twins? Really! What was that boy thinking? He did have to admit he deserved admonishment after the way he had acted, but there were some fates he should never be made to contemplate. He still hadn't explained why he'd been in such a bad mood. He didn't know how to explain it to the boy... or himself. In truth, he wasn't entirely sure what all was bothering him, yet he couldn't help but think Dumbledore had something to do with it. Perhaps whatever compulsion that had been taken off of him had caused it? Unfortunately, he couldn't figure out what exactly it could be. Luckily, no one had pushed him about it, all around him seeming to simply be happy he was in a better mood.

Harry suddenly smiled where he was sitting. He watched as a brilliant splash of color darted across the sky in front of him. It resolved itself into two snakes, so close that from a distance they seemed one, only separated enough to give their wings room to flap.

/_Hello Flick, Spitfire,_/ Harry murmured happily.

*/_**Good morning**_/* Flick and Spitfire said together. Harry held up his hands and let Flick settle down between them. He very gently pulled her close enough that she could settle against his chest. She was showing too, just a little fatter in her midsection than she had been before. Harry gently petted her. She had not been happy with the way he'd been leaving him behind lately, and he was doing his best to make it up to her.

/_Do you want to stay with me today?_/ he asked softly.

*/_**Of course I do**_/* Flick responded acerbically.

/_Yes, I know, it was a stupid question,/_/ Harry sighed. He carefully stood up, making sure not to shift his passenger more than necessary. It seemed that minidrags didn't start getting testy until they started to show. Flick would never hurt him, but he still didn't want to make her mad. /_How are you doing, Spitfire?_/

*/_**I'm doing well/**_* Spitfire answered. He settled onto Harry's shoulder opposite his mate. He knew Flick's bonded would take him to the midnight dark one that he usually accompanied.

/_Do you know what was wrong with Severus?/_/ Harry asked. He wasn't going to ask Severus, not yet anyway, but he wasn't above getting his answers from others, if they were available.

*/_**I do not/**_* Spitfire admitted. */_**The midnight dark one had a blackness in his mind. He broadcasted pain, but I could feel little else.**_/*

/_Is it gone? The blackness?_/ Harry asked worriedly.

*/_**It is.**_/* Spitfire confirmed.

Harry took Spitfire into Severus' rooms and left his father to his potion making without disturbing him. He wandered off to find someone to talk to. He found Draco and settled down across from him.

Draco continued reading for several moments. He spoke without looking up. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Just bored," Harry admitted.

Draco immediately put down his book. "Why do I think that's one of the most dangerous possibilities in the entire wizarding world?" he asked with a minor grin.

Harry laughed. "It's not that bad," he disagreed. "I won't do anything too dangerous right now, you know."

"That's true," Draco agreed, relaxing slightly.

Harry pulled something out of his robe and looked at it.

Draco's eyes narrowed. He recognized that envelope. "You got another one? Did you tell Father?"

Harry shook his head. "Nope. Haven't told Sev yet, either." He glared mildly at the envelope, not seeming too disturbed by it.

"Is it the same as the others?" Draco asked.

Harry nodded. "Yep, he doesn't have much imagination," he said in a strange tone of voice. "It is better than what he did last time he thought I was in danger," he admitted.

Draco blinked at that seeming non sequitur. "You know who it is," he suddenly realized.

"Yeah," Harry answered.

"Well?" Draco said impatiently. "Who was it?"

"He didn't mean anything bad by it," Harry said absently. "He'd just been convinced that I was in danger, and was trying to let me know. I don't think he came up with the idea on his own, though. I haven't actually talked to him about it. Cattie told me who it was. Well, she didn't actually tell me he was sending me death threats, because I don't think she realized what they were. And they're not actually death threats, if he never really wanted to threaten me, now are they?"

"Will you stop beating around the bush and tell me what the heck you're talking about?" Draco finally shouted in annoyance.

Flick suddenly hissed in his ear. */_**Your mate comes.**_/*

Harry put the envelope away even as he stood up. "Lucius," he said in welcome as the older man walked through the door.

"Hello, Harry, Draco," Lucius greeted.

"What's the matter?" the two boys said at the same time.

"Everything is as ready as it can be," Lucius explained. "O'Feahr has left to get Dumbledore and the others coming through from Underhill."

Harry drew in a deep breath and straightened up. "I'm ready," he said, his eyes intent and his face hard. "Where are they coming in?"

"Everyone is going straight to the courtroom," he answered.

Harry nodded. "I need to get changed, then." He was not going to confront Dumbledore looking anything less than his best. He was a Snape, and a Malfoy by marriage. He was a hero of the wizarding world. He was a political figure. He was going to be a mother. He was not a child, not anymore. If nothing else, Dumbledore would know *that* before too much longer.

Draco went to get changed himself, while Lucius went to tell Severus, and had him inform the rest of those who were going to the courtroom.

Fifteen minutes later, dozens of students were standing in the Great Hall, waiting for the main players in the upcoming drama. Harry strode out, dressed in a formal black robe, his hair pulled into a ponytail at the back of his neck and held by a gryphon clasp. The only color on him was the blazing green of his eyes and the multicolored minidrag obvious upon his shoulder. Many looked at the snake in surprise, having forgotten she was around, since she was very good at being unseen.

"Is everyone here?" Harry asked, as Severus and Draco strode gracefully into the room. Nods gave confirmation, "Then, let's go."

It was time to confront Albus Dumbledore once and for all.

Part 68/?

Word had obviously gotten out. As Harry and his friends and family entered the courtroom, they found it completely packed. It was only because of who they were, and their obvious willingness to curse others if it became necessary, that they were able to avoid those who sought to gain their attention and push their way to the front.

Morann was the first of the newcomers to enter the room. His very presence brought silence to all facing him, as he thoughtfully looked over the courtroom. Slowly, under nothing more than his gaze, the spectators settled into their seats and quieted. He nodded once, sharply, as he saw them all behaving in a responsible manner. He sat in his high seat, and began to speak.

"Before this trial proceeds any farther, there are certain precautions that must be taken. Miss Scarborough and Miach of the Tuatha de Danaan will examine you. If they give you a potion, you are expected to drink it. If you refuse either the examination or the potion, you will be escorted out of this courtroom and not allowed back in." He continued only once he was sure everyone understood his meaning.

"There will be a privacy curtain erected in the front of this room. You will be able to hear everything that is spoken, but those in front of the curtain will not be able to hear you." He continued as the spectators, especially the reporters, started to mutter complaints. "The main reason for this is that everyone involved will be under truth potion. Not only could too many people speaking at once confuse those under such a potion, but you might also get the urge to ask questions that are not under the providence of this court. Anyone trying to break through the curtain will find themselves escorted out immediately."

Hermione raised her hand, as she would in class when she had a question.

"Yes, child?" Morann asked.

"What if we think of something that needs to be asked, but it doesn't seem as if Minister Malfoy is thinking the same way?" she asked.

"If he wishes it, you may write your questions and pass them to him," the Judge offered.

"Thank you," Hermione smiled brightly at him, and the Judge unbent enough to smile slightly back.

Thyme and Miach, who had entered behind Morann, got to work checking through the spectators. Time after time, they had to call for the potion, making Severus wonder if he had made enough. He had, but only barely. Twice, someone refused to be checked. As warned, they were quickly but firmly escorted out of the room and banned from returning.

Once everyone had been checked and all had taken their seats, the door opened and Dumbledore was brought in.

He looked as he always did, as he had appeared from the first time Harry saw him, little different from the first time Severus or Lucius had seen him. His hair and beard were still long and white, his clothing taste still outrageous, and his blue eyes still twinkled. He was wearing power dampening bracelets once more, in the hope that this time they would work. He was also surrounded by a bevy of guards.

He took his place beside Moody. Harry was sitting next to his husband, on the opposite side of the room. His new father sat on the other side beside him, and his friends filled the seats in the row behind. He looked at Dumbledore and honestly didn't know what to feel. He could still remember the way he'd felt the first time he'd met the older man, that made the betrayal he felt later, so much worse. He wanted to see Dumbledore get what he deserved, but mostly, he just wanted to know, *why*. Of all the questions still unanswered, that one was the most important.

Everyone was seated. It was time to begin.

"Who accuses this man?" Morann began the proceedings.

Lord Lucius Malfoy stood up, every inch the Minister of Magic. "On behalf of the wizarding world, I accuse Albus Dumbledore. These charges include, but are not limited to, child neglect and endangerment, accessory to child abuse, attempted murder, using compulsion on a mediwitch in an attempt to force her to commit murder, using compulsions upon children under his guardianship, using compulsions upon Aurors and members of the Ministry, and escape from custody through the use of compulsions."

He said no more, confident that his point had been made quite clearly.

"And how does the defendant plead?" Morann asked.

Mad-Eye Moody stood up, his fake eye giving the watchers the willies as it seemed to bore into each and every one. "Albus Dumbledore has done what is best for the wizarding world at all times. Occasionally, in war, sacrifices must be made. The people understand this. He has kept them alive and safe for the past fifty years. Who are you to judge him?"

Harry rose to his feet but looked quickly at the judge for permission. The last thing he wished was to be thrown out for contempt of court, and he well knew that the Sidhe judge might well do so if he overstepped the bounds too much. Morann nodded slightly, and Harry turned to the form of his fourth year DADA professor. "I am, as far as I know at the moment, the one harmed most by Dumbledore's actions. Me. Not Voldemort, nor any of his Death Eaters. Not any of the enemies he fought, but me. And while I might not be a child anymore, I was one for most of the time during which he committed the acts for which he stands accused. There is no way to rationalize what he has done, allowed to be done, and actively encouraged to be done to myself. There is no acceptable explanation. The wizarding world would not have been worse off if I'd been raised by people who cared about me. They would not have been in more danger if I'd had a normal childhood."

"As for who has the right to judge? By his actions against me, I do. As the impartial representative agreed upon by the parties involved, because he has no stake in the power games Dumbledore plays, Judge Morann does. And due to the decisions he has made in their name, the wizarding world does. Does that answer your question?" His voice had been calm and emotionless for most of his speech, but his last question contained an edge of anger he was not able to keep out.

Harry felt glad that he couldn't hear what was going on behind the privacy curtain. He was sure everyone in court was exclaiming over the things that he'd said, and he didn't want to hear it. He kept his eyes on the one he'd technically been addressing, surprised by the glimpse of respect he was sure he'd seen in Judge Morann's face. He sat back down, leaning slightly into the hand his father had placed on his back. Harry darted a quick look in his direction, and his heart warmed at the pride he could see glowing behind those coal black eyes.

"If there are no more remarks, Prosecutor, call your witness," Morann commanded.

"Wait!" Moody called out.

"You have something you wish to add?" Morann asked.

"Snape created the potions you are planning to use, didn't he?" Moody asked.

"They were," Morann agreed.

"How do we know they're safe and will work as they should?" Moody asked, obviously paranoid, although that was a fact which surprised nobody that knew him .

Severus surged to his feet, black eyes snapping in anger. "You think I do not know how to brew a simple truth serum?" he asked in a silky smooth voice that would have had most of his students running for the nearest doorway.

"It's not your brewing I have trouble with, it's your ethics," was Moody's response. "Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater. And now you've teamed up with Malfoy; you're even more suspect."

"Do you have a suggestion?" Morann asked, before the confrontation could escalate.

"I've brought my own Veritaserum. I want Snape to take it and answer questions about the potions he made."

Morann contemplated the suggestion. "I have no problems with that accommodation." He turned to Severus. "Do you agree?"

"As long as the Veritaserum passes my inspection," Severus ground out. "and someone capable of monitoring is available."

He turned his glance to the spectators, to one in particular that he had only met earlier that day. The man nodded his head to Severus and approached the bench. Once he passed the privacy barrier, he spoke. "I can monitor him."

"Thank you, Miach, your assistance is appreciated," Morann said solemnly.

Severus accepted the potion that Moody gave him, and carefully tested it. Only once he was assured, to the best of his ability, that the potion was exactly what it was supposed to be and nothing else, did he sit in the Witness chair and allow three drops to be placed on his tongue. Miach monitored him as Severus' eyes went blank and he went fully under the influence of the drug.

"Only about the potions," Morann warned Moody as he readied himself to speak.

The old Auror accepted the qualification. "What potions have you made for this trial?" Moody asked.

"Veritaserum and its antidote, normal strength for most witnesses, double strength for Dumbledore," Snape replied in a dull voice. "Tryan's Truth for Harry. The Sidhe's anti-compulsion potion for everyone under Dumbledore's influence."

"Did you make all of those potions to the best of your ability?" Moody asked.

"I did," Severus responded

"Did you put anything into the potions that was not a part of the recipe?" was Moody's next question.

"I did not."

"Did you make anything to be used today that would harm another?"

Morann nodded his pleasure at that question. It had been a question that could be too easily expanded beyond the parameters of the court, but the way Moody had worded it had kept it an acceptable question.

"I did." Severus replied. Thanks to the potion he was under, he didn't notice the gasps of disbelief and cries of shock that response brought about.

Part 69/?

"You did?" Moody immediately jumped on the admission.

"Yes," Severus stated.

"Which potion?" Moody asked intently.

"The Veritaserum and Anti-Compulsion potions," Severus answered with a blank expression on his face.

"Did you add something to them?" Moody asked.

"No," Severs responded.

"Did you brew them wrong?" Moody wondered.

"No," Severus asked.

Miach held up a hand. "Your Honor?" he interrupted.

"The Court recognizes Miach, Celtic God of Natural Healing," Morann said.

"May I ask the witness a question? I believe I understand where the misunderstanding is coming from," Miach offered.

"Does the Defense or Prosecution have any problem with this?" the Judge asked.

Both agreed to allow the Healer to ask the question. Miach turned back to Severus, his hand resting on the Potion Master's wrist, where his pulse was going too fast. "Severus Snape, did you prepare any potion for today that would harm the ones to whom it was intended to be given?" the Tuatha de Danaan asked carefully after thinking about it for a moment.

"No," Severus admitted. The Healer could feel Severus' pulse slowing as he calmed after the clarification that had been needed to dispel the false impression brought on by his original answer. The answer that had been compelled by the potion, but would have mislead, due to the limitations of the original question's specificity. Being a truth potion, giving an honest answer that would in itself have misled, put Severus' mind into conflict. Without Miach's intervention, Severus' mind could have been in jeopardy, due to the cognitive dissonance created by the question. Situations like that was why it was so important to have someone competent administering and overseeing the use of such a powerful, mind-affecting potion

Miach explained his reasoning. "The Anti-compulsion potion is dangerous if given to someone not under a compulsion. And Veritaserum is dangerous to Harry Snape and his child."

Moody's eyes narrowed as he looked at the dark-haired man in the witness chair. "Was that what you meant?" he asked.

"Yes," Severus agreed blankly.

"Any thing else?"

Severus just blinked his eyes, confused under the potion as to what exactly the Defender wanted.

Moody frowned but restated his question. "Were there any other dangers to anyone with the potions that you brewed?"

"No." Severus admitted.

That was the end of the questions, and Severus gratefully took the antidote as it was handed to him.

"Prosecutor? Are you ready to begin?" Judge Morann asked.

"I am, your honor," Lucius replied. He thought it was completely absurd that he had to make his case against Dumbledore before he'd be able to get the old man up on the stand, but if that was what he had to do, than that was what he would do.

Lucius turned back to where his husband was sitting and let his eyes pass him. Severus sighed, stood back up from where he'd just sat down and headed back to the chair. Lucius waited until he'd taken the Veritaserum once more before he began to speak. He didn't limit himself to Severus and Harry; instead he started much, much earlier. He carefully brought Severus along from practically the first moment he entered Hogwarts.

"I object!" Moody called out. "This has nothing to do with Potter!"

Lucius looked at him. "In the end, this trial has little to do with Harry *Snape*," he stressed the last name, "although he was the catalyst. This has to do with Dumbledore, and a systematic manipulation that has lasted decades."

The Judge overruled the objection, and allowed Lucius to continue. "Go on." Lucius did. He brought up Severus' relations with Dumbledore throughout his school years, including the *prank* Sirius Black had played against him, and Dumbledore's reaction. Those behind the privacy curtain could hear the reactions many were having to the Headmaster simply ignoring what anyone could tell was an attempt at murder.

Lucius then started digging into Severus' becoming a Death Eater, and what had happened when he'd gone to Dumbledore for help. Help that would only be given if he agreed to spy. As he brought out more and more of the Potion Master's memories, it became increasingly obvious how the mage had manipulated him, not truly allowing any free choice. He also spoke about the death of the Potters, and McGonagall and Hagrid's complaints about the family to whom Harry had been given. Then came Snape's capture... by Moody, and what Dumbledore had done, and hadn't bothered to do, to get him out of Azkaban.

The next ten years were mostly skipped over, nothing much having happened that was germane to the topic at hand, but then Harry Potter entered Hogwarts. Severus spoke of the time when Dumbledore called him up to talk before Harry actually entered the school.

"He reminded me that being nice to Harry would be a bad idea, since there were still Death Eaters who had children in the school, and that Draco Malfoy would be entering at the same time as Potter. He said that he would make sure the Hat put him in Gryffindor, thus giving me an excuse to be as nasty as I felt necessary. He also spent some time reminding me who his father was, and how much we did not get along." His eyes seemed to get even blanker as he spoke.

Lucius looked at him carefully. "What else?" he asked strongly. "What else did he tell you?"

Severus blinked. "He mentioned that if James hadn't stolen Lily away from me, Harry might have been mine. But Harry wasn't mine, he was James'. I needed to remember that he was James', James who had taken Lily away, James who saved my life. I had to watch over him, but I should think of him as James... he was just like James..."

If Lucius did not have such strong self-control, he would never have been able to hide the shock he felt as he understood what Severus was saying. From the sudden gasp behind him, he realized that Harry understood as well.

"And did you think of him as James?" Lucius asked.

Severus nodded absently. "He was James, but I had to call him Harry. He was just like James, always getting into trouble, always breaking rules."

"When did you realize he wasn't James?" Lucius asked.

"Fifth Year. The first Potion class."

"What happened?"

"He and Draco were doused with a potion. They had to take off their robes and I saw his body. James would never have scars like that, he would never be that skinny, he would never be that hurt."

"How hurt was he?" Lucius wasn't sure he really wanted to ask. It was something he had never even asked Harry.

Severus' voice was emotionless as he reported the injuries. "Three broken ribs, a sprained ankle, scabs, welts and bruises over ninety percent of his body, major malnutrition. He had had kidney damage, but it had mostly healed by the time I found out what was wrong."

"Anything else?" Lucius forced himself to ask.

"He was covered with scars. They covered most of his body," Severus answered.

"Who did he say did it?"

"His 'relatives'," even under the influence of that strong a potion, his disgust with those people showed through.

Lucius led his friend through the rest of the year. The way Dumbledore kept interfering in the relationship the two were building. The fight against Voldemort and the Headmaster's reaction once they returned. The fight with Sirius Black that had obviously been set up by the old mage. The lengths Dumbledore had gone to, to make sure Harry went back to the Dursleys for the summer.

Finally, they had come to this year and quickly went through it, especially when they had come to the realization that Dumbledore was behind much that had happened over the past several years. Then, it was over. At least, Lucius' part of it was done.

Now it was Moody's turn to cross-examine. Unsurprisingly, he arrowed in on Snape's years as a Death Eater, the things he had done.

Lucius objected immediately, saying that Severus' actions as a Death Eater had nothing to do with Dumbledore, or the case at hand.

Luckily, Judge Morann agreed and the objection was sustained.

Part 70/?

The rest of the questioning did not bring up anything new. The most Moody was able to get was the fact that some of what Severus said were things he had only heard about second-hand. However, since those things were not the most important ones, and would be collaborated by others later on in the trial, most of the witnesses had to concede that things were not looking well for the ex-Headmaster.

Minerva McGonagall spoke of the way the Dursleys had acted when she'd watched them before Harry arrived, "the worst sort of muggles", as well as of her words with Dumbledore, telling him she did not think Harry should be sent there. Still, she had to admit, under Moody's questioning, that she hadn't seen anything particularly wrong with the family, and that their own child seemed to be well taken care of. Lucius also asked about school life during the Marauder's time, finding out that she had known about Sirius' *prank* after the fact, and had been persuaded not to do anything to the boy, beyond detention. Lucius made sure to bring up the many DADA Professors that had been hired over the past six years, comparing them against the ones from the years before. Everyone had to admit that it was very interesting that it was only during the years of Harry's schooling that the professors had been so bad. You would have thought that some of the best would be coming forward, hoping to teach the Boy-Who-Lived. The new Headmistress was not able to say if Dumbledore had received other resumes, but admitted that he had made the decision for that position by himself. Although, truth be told, there wasn't much turnover in the other positions; yet any other slot that had opened had been hired by committee.

Hagrid was sworn in to give details about finding Harry, and the conditions in which he had found the boy when he was eleven. After receiving a parchment from Harry, Lucius asked about Hagrid's comments about Slytherin, comments which the Creature teacher admitted Dumbledore had *suggested* he say, helping to push Harry away from that House. What had happened during second year was also brought up. By the time Moody finished cross-examining the half-giant, it was time to break for the day.

Harry sighed deeply. The next day would be his turn. Hopefully, there would not be much more before Dumbledore reached the stand.

Upon return to Hogwarts, everyone gathered together to speak about what had been discovered, especially the information that Dumbledore had more than likely compelled Severus to think of Harry as James, thus leading to a large part of their disagreements and dislike over the years.

"He really was determined to keep us apart, wasn't he?" Harry said thoughtfully. "I wonder why?"

"Well, considering the way he acted when he thought that I was the father of your child, perhaps he was simply trying to keep us from becoming a couple," Severus suggested. "Especially if he knew I was a mage, which is seeming very likely."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Still, if that were the case, I would think it would make more sense to push you towards looking at me as a son. After all, they say that hate and love are two sides of the same coin; so pushing us to hate each other might have backfired. More than it did, at any rate. So why try to separate us when it became obvious how we were acting?"

"It's yet another thing to ask the man when we finally get him under Veritaserum," Lucius suggested.

Dinner that night could not be considered even close to a silent affair, as all those who had not been able to go to the trial, badgered those who did. Harry found himself strangely without an appetite as he worried about his own testimony the next day.

Harry woke in the middle of the night. He hadn't been sleeping too well as it was, and now he was also hungry. He thought about waking up his snoring husband and making him go get him something to eat. However, what he really wanted was a bacon sandwich on fried bread, and he knew how strict the man was about his diet. For some strange reason, that was not on his 'approved' list. He carefully pulled himself away and headed for the bathroom. He knew that Lucius wouldn't really wake up as long as he didn't make any unexpected noise.

When they first started sleeping together, any movement in the middle of the night would wake them both up. However, once Harry started having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, every single night, and sometimes more than once, they'd finally gotten out of that habit. Anyone else coming into the room, or any noise that wasn't obviously that of each other would still wake them up immediately, but Harry getting up to head to the bathroom usually would not.

Harry used that knowledge to get out of the room without waking his husband. He made sure he gave off calm thoughts, not wanting to wake up Flick. She needed her rest. He snuck out of the apartment, hoping not to wake Cattie up either. She was just as bad about his diet as Lucius... or Severus, or Draco, or Hermione, or Thyme... or just about anyone else he knew. As far as he was concerned, they all paid way too much attention to what he ate. He'd already had several people complaining about how little an appetite he'd had during dinner today.

He reached the painting hiding the entrance to the kitchen and tickled the pear to open the doorway. He wasn't there for more than a moment or two before another presence appeared.

"Harry Potter!"

"Hi, Dobby," Harry smiled over at him.

"Dobby is so happy to see Harry Potter! How can Dobby help his friend Harry Potter?" Dobby babbled happily.

"I could really use a bacon sandwich... on fried bread... maybe with some pickles? And a slice of tomato, and some really spicy mustard," Harry's eyes gleamed at the thought.

"Right away, Harry Potter!" Dobby rushed to get everything his friend wanted, having it in front of him in thirty seconds or less. Harry dug in happily, groaning at the taste.

"That's so good," Harry moaned, almost in ecstasy. When Dobby saw how fast he was eating it, he quickly made another.

After three sandwiches and a bowl of ice cream, Harry had finally had enough. He leaned back, rubbing his stomach happily. "Thank you, Dobby," he said appreciatively.

"Harry Potter is more than welcome," Dobby answered.

"Dobby?" Harry said after a moment. "Could you tell me something?"

"Of course, Harry Potter. Dobby will tell Harry Potter anything Harry Potter wants to know!"

Harry looked at him intently. "Why did you send me death threats?"

Dobby blinked his big eyes and grabbed hold of his ears, tugging at them restlessly. "Dobby would never threaten Harry Potter! Dobby was just warning Harry Potter!"

"Warning me about what?" Harry asked. "And why did you choose that way to do it?"

"Dobby thought Harry Potter might take it more seriously if Harry Potter did not know who sent it," the house elf said, shamefacedly.

"Dobby, you know I've never discounted anything you said," Harry reminded him.

"Harry Potter is right! Dobby should have trusted Harry Potter! Dobby is sorry!" the house elf wailed as he ran out of the room.

"Dobby!" Harry yelled after him. He rolled his eyes when he didn't get a response. He *still* didn't know why the house elf had felt the need to do it in the first place!

He waited around for another ten minutes, but Dobby never returned. Finally, Harry got up and headed back towards his room.

He wasn't even halfway back to the Chamber before he realized that he probably shouldn't have eaten as much as he did, of what he did. Unfortunately, he was paying more attention to his almost rebelling stomach than the corridor around him. Therefore, the spell hitting him in the back was a complete surprise. His defenses were down to such a degree that he wasn't able to absorb any of the power from the spell. The last thing he saw was the stone floor of the hallway rushing up towards him. He barely had time to raise his arms enough so that he didn't land on his stomach.

He didn't know how much time had passed when he woke up. In some ways this reminded him of the time O'Feahr had kidnapped him. However, the difference between now and then was extreme. While waking up in an unknown place was the same, instead of being on a comfortable bed in a beautiful room, this time he was on a dusty cot, in a rundown room. He looked around and his eyes fell on a person in the doorway.

"Let me guess; you're one of those Dumbledore spoke to last Hogsmeade weekend, aren't you?" he asked, many things falling into place.


	21. Chapter 71 and 72

Short today, I know, but I liked where it stopped ^_^.

Part 71/?

Lucius awoke slowly, stretching mightily as he did so. It was only as his mind realized he was alone in the bed when he should not have been, that he awoke completely. His eyes opened and flicked quickly through the room. No Harry.

He sat up and got out of the bed in one fluid movement. He wasn't really worried; at least not once his mind was working fully. He knew how worried his young husband was about what was planned to be happening that day. Still, he would feel better once he had seen him and made sure he was alright.

He walked into the bathroom, unhappy to find it empty, and quickly finished his ablutions. Magic made it very easy to continue looking as good as he did without spending all morning working on his hair.

Getting dressed, he looked over at the side table and frowned. Flick was still sleeping there. He didn't like the fact that Harry was out without her. He had promised not to do that again. Yes, they might be overprotective, but Harry simply *attracted* trouble, and they needed all the help they could get to keep him safe.

Lucius Malfoy quickly checked through the rest of the rooms hidden within the Chamber, without finding any sign of the green-eyed teen. He headed out to meet with Severus before breakfast.

"I was under the impression that Harry was going to be joining us," Severus asked as much as stated.

"I don't believe we ever came out and said as such," Lucius admitted. "He was already gone by the time I woke up. Hopefully, he woke up hungry and went to breakfast early."

"He didn't eat much last night," Severus agreed. With that out of the way, they strategized, discussing what was going to happen that day, what Lucius was and wasn't going to ask, and what he needed to stay away from to not give Moody any openings.

Before they knew it, an hour had passed. If they wanted to eat before leaving, they needed to head to the Great Hall immediately.

When they entered the room, their eyes immediately went searching. Harry wasn't there, but then, neither were half of the students. Ehlana smiled at them, as she walked out talking to a fellow Hufflepuff, her breakfast already done. Ron dragged himself in ten minutes after they did.

However, with thirty minutes before it was time for them to leave, and *still* no sign of the young man, they finally started to get a little worried.

One by one, those planning on going to the trial wandered into the room where they were to gather. Lucius and Severus began to frown, as gradually, all of Harry's closest friends gathered into a group, but Harry was not with any of them.

Lucius moved through the group until he was by his son's side. "Have you seen Harry this morning?" he asked quietly.

Draco frowned worriedly. "No, father, I haven't."

Severus was not in the mood to beat around the bush. He spoke commandingly, calling the attention of everyone in the room, "Who saw Harry this morning?"

There was silence from the entire group as they all looked at each other. One by one they looked up at their Potions Professor and shook their heads. No one had seen him.

The Head of Slytherin looked at the Headmistress. "Don't you have some way of checking where your students are?" he hissed.

Minerva shook her head slightly. "If Albus had something like that, I don't know where it is," she admitted.

"I thought you had tracers on him?" Ron spoke up.

Lucius did not show how stupid he was suddenly feeling. Instead, he reached for the emblem portkey he knew Harry always carried with him. His gray eyes flashed as he realized it was still in their room. He used his own Slytherin portkey to go back to the rooms, just to be sure. The only thing he found was an upset minidrag and Harry's outside robe... including the portkeys.

"Do you know where he is?" Lucius asked, as he headed towards the door once more. Flick, unsurprisingly, didn't answer.

"Master Lucius?" a voice said quietly.

Lucius turned, wand drawn, and held it upon the suddenly cowering house elf.

"Cattie," Lucius lowered his wand. "Have you seen Harry this morning?"

Cattie shook her head, but before she could speak up a pop from behind caused him to spin around while the house elf squeaked and disappeared. "Is he here?" Draco asked as he ignored the wand pointing his way.

"He is not," Lucius admitted. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wondered if those death threats had anything to do with it," Draco told him. "He just received a new one, but he said he knew who was sending them and wasn't worried about them any more."

"Did he say who sent them?" Lucius asked intently.

Draco shook his head. "But he said Cattie was the one who told him who it was," he explained.

Lucius frowned. "Cattie!" he yelled.

The shy elf appeared with a pop.

Draco warned his father off with a glance, as he turned to the elf. "Harry has been getting notes, he said that you knew who was sending them," he said gently.

Cattie looked confused. "Cattie saw no notes. Cattie told Mistress Jade about seeing Dobby with parchment."

"Dobby," Draco groaned. "Of course! That explains what Harry meant about the person sending them not meaning any harm." He took off out of the room as quickly as he could, Lucius on his heels. He turned to his father. "You need to go. If you're not there to explain, we could be held for contempt of court," he reminded him. "Get Weasley and Granger on the stand, heck, put the Dursleys up there if you have to, Black and Lupin as well. Do whatever you need to stall, that doesn't lose us the bloody case! Tell Blaise to stay. We'll find him. You have *got* to go!"

Lucius wanted to argue, but Draco wasn't about to let him. "You are *not* going to ruin the trial over this! Work on the Judge; give him whatever he needs to be able to get Dumbledore on the stand. If we can't find Harry, that's the only chance we've got!"

Lucius wanted to argue. He dearly wanted to argue. But how could he? Unfortunately, his son was right. It was not something he was happy about, by any stretch of the imagination. With one last glare and searching look, he turned away to head upstairs. One thing he could, and would do, was get permission for Severus to come back. Miach was capable of administering the Veritaserum; he'd already shown that. Madam Faire would be staying as well... just in case.

Draco headed down to the kitchens as fast as he could go. He knew that was the best place to find house elves at any given time; he figured it would actually take less time to go there, then to try to summon him. Dobby might come when Harry called, but he didn't particularly care for the Malfoys. This was just easier.

He strode into the kitchens, a man on a mission. The house elves working there seemed to realize it as they scurried to get out of his way. There!

"Dobby!" he commanded.

"Draco Malfoy," Dobby answered politely.

"When was the last time you saw Harry?" Draco asked.

"Dobby saw Harry Potter just this morning," Dobby said proudly. "Dobby fed Harry Potter. Harry Potter was very hungry."

"What time was this?" Draco jumped on the first true lead they had received.

"Harry Potter came to see Dobby at three o'clock," Dobby answered.

"Did you see where he went after that?" Draco reached down to grab the creature's shoulder and only just refrained from shaking him.

"Dobby left before Harry Potter," Dobby admitted. "Did something happen to Dobby's friend?" he asked worriedly.

"He's disappeared," Draco didn't see any harm in saying it; the news would be all over the school soon. "Those threats you've been sending; why did you send them?"

"Dobby would not send threats to his friend Harry Potter!" Dobby said vehemently. "Dobby sent *warnings*."

"I read a couple of those warnings," Draco frowned at the elf. "They sounded like threats to me."

"Dobby would *never* threaten Harry Potter!" Dobby almost growled. "Harry Potter is Dobby's friend! Harry Potter freed Dobby! Dobby did not like it when his friend was being followed everywhere. Dobby does not like *her*. Dobby was just trying to warn Harry Potter that *she* was following Harry Potter, and not in a nice way."

Draco couldn't decide whether to be frustrated or angry. This was the only lead they had, and the stupid house elf, who never used pronouns, was now using them instead of the stupid girl's name! Frustrated and angry worked, he finally decided. "Who is 'she'?" he demanded.

Part 72/?

Harry carefully looked his visitor over. He was almost surprised not to feel much worry. Yes, she had managed to kidnap him, but this was her! How could he really be scared of her? Even if she had... his eyes flew wide and his hands suddenly wrapped themselves around his stomach as he quickly checked.

"It's okay," she smiled as she came farther into the room. "I made sure the spell I used was safe for pregnant people. I would never hurt a child," now she looked hurt, as if she didn't believe he could think that of her.

"I didn't think you could kidnap people either," Harry muttered. "Obviously I was wrong about that."

"It's okay, Harry," she said softly. "I understand. Dumbledore explained how those awful men had twisted you, the same way they tried to do me."

Harry glared at her. "They didn't do anything to you that you didn't deserve. Nor have they done anything to me! This is my life and I'm happy with it! Why can't you just believe that?"

She shook her head. "You're not! They just made you *think* that you are! But don't worry. The Headmaster explained how to cure you. And once we do, you'll see how wrong you are. Don't worry; your baby won't be harmed. He said he could find a family to adopt it. After all, there's no way you will want it once you're healed. It'll be okay, I promise."

"I am not getting rid of my baby, and Dumbledore is not getting anywhere near him!" Harry growled. "Dumbledore's going to be going away for a very long time, very soon."

"Don't be silly, Harry," she laughed slightly. "I'm not going to be raising my husband's bastard, you know."

"Number one, my child is *not* a bastard," Harry's voice practically crackled with anger, "and number two, I wouldn't marry you if you were the last person on Earth, Ginny Weasley!"

The youngest Weasley just smiled. "I'll go get you something to eat," she said, walking out. "Don't worry, Harry, I won't hold this against you. I know it's not your fault."

As soon as she was gone, Harry started looking around. He cursed himself roundly for choosing to leave Flick behind, and even more so for not wearing his portkeys. He carried the portkeys with him everywhere, and yet, this morning he'd not even thought about them.

He didn't even bother trying to get off of the cot he was currently laying on. Even a magic-blind person would be able to feel the shields that kept him captive there. It was as he was testing those shields that he realized what was going on. There was a low-level compulsion built within them. A quick check showed that it was all around him. The entire room was flooded with it. There was no way Ginny could have done something like this. Dumbledore must have set it up for her.

He grinned without humor. Under normal circumstances, him being unconscious would mean that he was pulling in magic without control, thus pulling in the compulsion along with the magic. However, the old mage must not have known that pregnant mages didn't do that, not if they were in a place they didn't trust. And regardless of the fact that all of the compulsions had been off the students, the main portion of Hogwarts was not a place he felt safe enough to draw from. If he had been drawing when the stun spell hit, he might have kept on as he was moved. However, since he hadn't been, it wasn't a problem.

He quickly checked to see if he could send magic out through those shields. He was not surprised to find he couldn't.

He carefully built up his own shields, setting them up on the inside of the shields on the bed. That allowed him to keep out any extra magic as well as protect against physical intrusion. There was no reason someone else should be able to get in if he couldn't get out, was there?

Once that was done to his satisfaction, he settled back and started to think. Unfortunately, the shielding was very strong, and surrounded him in an egg shape. That meant he couldn't fight his way up through it, nor down under to get out. If he'd had anything he could pull magic from, he would have been able to burst through, since the shield had been set up in advance and was not being fed by the caster. However, his pregnant body took up too much of his own power for him to have the 'extra' needed to do that without grabbing from the world around him. If he'd even had something magical, anything magical, he might have been able to drain it, though that wasn't something he had practiced.

He'd automatically checked for his wand as he awoke, and hadn't found it. Either Ginny had taken it away from him, or it had fallen out of his pocket as he had been knocked out. He hoped it was the second. For some reason he didn't like to think that she had it.

He waited impatiently, checking and double-checking everything around him, the shields, his own power, his baby, even the air surrounding him.

It was about half an hour later when the door opened again. His eyebrows flew up in surprise. "Colin," he said politely. "I didn't know you were part of this farce."

"It's not a farce, Harry," Colin said strongly. "We'll make it right."

"So you can get pictures of our wedding?" Harry said sarcastically.

Colin looked away.

"You've got a crush on her!" Harry blurted out in surprise.

Colin just blushed.

"So why, in Merlin's name, are you helping her do this?" Harry asked in shock.

"Because I want her to be happy. And you, too. I know she's right. Something's been done to you. Malfoys don't change; deep in your heart you know that! And Snape! He's awful. He's always hated you; what makes you think he's changed?" Colin remonstrated.

"You weren't at the courtroom yesterday, were you?" Harry asked seriously. "When Severus, under Veritaserum, explained that the reason he hadn't liked me for the first four years. That was because, thanks to Dumbledore, whenever Severus looked at me, he saw James. Honestly, I bet that's why he hardly ever called me by my first name. Most of the time he didn't remember what it was. But last year... he saw me. Not my father, just *me*. And we found out that we actually like each other."

"Oh, please! If he hated your father so much, he's probably still seeing him whenever he looks at you," Colin disagreed vehemently.

"He might have hated my father, but he wanted to marry my mother. If they hadn't broken up, I might be his son by birth instead of adoption. Once he stopped seeing me as my father, or my father's son, he started seeing me as my *mother's* son. Now he's my dad, and we're *both* happy about that." Harry tried to explain. He had a much better chance of getting out of here if he could convince Colin that what they were doing was wrong.

Colin shook his head. "Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape messed with Ginny's *mind*. That's not the doings of good people."

"You do know that Molly Weasley was there that day, right?" Harry asked. "That she *agreed* to what they did? Ginny is obsessed with me. She's got this fantasy in her head that she wouldn't let go of. She threatened to give me a love potion to make me love her so that I could fulfill this dream she had in her head. She had it all planned out, up to and including what I was going to do after Hogwarts. None of which had anything to do with me, the *real* me, or anything *I* would want. I'm not the one with the unhealthy attitude, Colin." He could see that the young Gryffindor wasn't actually thinking about what he was saying, so he tried to think of another way to put it. "How come you haven't used a love potion on Ginny to get her to love you?" he asked.

"That would be wrong! If she doesn't love me for real, than it's not worth it," Colin complained.

"But you think she has the right to do it to me?" Harry asked him.

"This isn't about that," Colin disagreed. "It's about the way Snape and Malfoy are using you."

Harry shook his head. "If you think this has anything to do with something other than Ginny's obsession with me, you need to think again. If she didn't think I belonged to her, she wouldn't even have bothered." He looked at the fifth year student with disgust.

Colin looked away unhappily.

"It doesn't matter," Harry said seriously. "There is nothing you can do to change me. My family and *real* friends will find me soon enough. I have the feeling Dobby knows who you are. He'll tell someone."

"No he won't," the red-haired girl said as she walked into the room with a tray.

"What makes you think that?" Harry asked. He looked at the food on the tray. "And if you seriously think that I'll eat anything you give me, you *really* need to get your head checked. But then, we knew that already, didn't we?"

Ginny willfully ignored that. "Dobby has been ordered not to tell anyone who I am. He's not even to say my name. He might be a free house elf, but he did agree to accept his position. He is bound by house elf strictures while working here. If he wants to stay at Hogwarts, he has to do as the Headmaster says."

"Except Dumbledore isn't the Headmaster anymore, is he?" Harry asked intently. "McGonagall is the Headmistress now. Which means her orders matter. Besides, as much as Dobby likes working at Hogwarts, he likes me better. I have no doubts that given a choice between the two, he'll choose helping me. After all, he's been warning me about you for months. What did you do to make him do that, hmm?"

"I was just trying to protect you, since no one else would bother," Ginny argued.

"That's not your job," Harry reminded her.

"Of course it is! You're *mine*!" Ginny answered harshly. "Now, here." She tried handing the tray through the shield, only to run up against his. "I don't understand," she muttered. "He said that I would be able to send things through."

"Through yours, yes," Harry agreed. "But do you honestly think I'd allow that? You're not getting anywhere near me. I've made sure of that." Harry turned away from her. He'd determined he was going to ignore her from now on. It would probably piss her off, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

"What did Dumbledore tell you?" he asked Colin. He knew the boy couldn't be under a compulsion; he'd received the antidote, as had Ginny.

"He told us what they did to you," Colin explained. "The spells they had to use to get you under their control like that. He took off the spell they put on Ginny and gave her her memories back."

Harry looked interested. "I didn't know you could undo a potion with a spell like that."

"You don't think what they did was wrong?" Colin asked.

Harry shook his head. "You didn't see her that day. She had utterly and completely lost it. She'd told her mother that we were engaged. Now, number one, I don't like girls, and don't say Lucius did that to me, because I've known it for ages. Number two, even if I did like girls, it wouldn't be Ginny. She was like a sister to me."

"Was?"

"Was," Harry admitted. "Now she's just my friend's little sister, and is about as important to me as his older brothers are." He could see the stricken look on her face in his peripheral vision, but didn't let it stop him. If this made her think, all the better.

As he watched, the hurt expression left to be replaced by anger. That wasn't a surprise. Then it turned to sorrow once more, but it seemed kind of... contrived.

"Why are you still fighting this?" Ginny asked softly. "Just relax, and everything will make sense."

Harry didn't even bother to look at her tragic expression. He continued talking to Colin, "Not only had she told her mother we were engaged, but she had our future completely planned out. When I disagreed, she threatened to tell everyone where I was, and have me sent to St. Mungo's. She actually told her mother that it didn't matter if I didn't love her, because that's what love potions are for! Does that really sound like someone that is completely *with* it? It was either use the potion and take her memories, or send *her* to St. Mungo's. We decided on the potion with her mother's permission. Mrs. Weasley was right there when the decision was made; she was part of it. Ginny is a minor, and it was her mother's right to make the decision. There was no illegal coercion."

Colin just looked down, but Harry could tell he was thinking about what he said.

"Oh, and if you're waiting for the compulsion Dumbledore laid to take effect, you can keep on waiting. I'm more than powerful enough to keep it away from me. I hope you know what it is though, because if you keep sitting in it, soaking in it, like you are now, you're going to be under it before too much longer."

"Dumbledore wouldn't hurt us!" Colin disagreed.

"I thought that way once. Then I actually started paying attention. The man is on trial for what he's been doing, including harming students under his protection. Including me. How could you trust him?"

"If the choice is him or Malfoy, I'm certainly not going to choose Malfoy!" Ginny yelled. Although Harry was ostensibly addressing Colin, Ginny was of course paying close attention. She didn't seem to like being ignored. All the more reason to keep doing so, as far as Harry was concerned.

He sighed internally. What he should have done was played along, made them think he was under control until he was able to get off the bed. Especially since he really needed to use the loo It would have been a lot easier to get the better of the two younger students if he was out of these shields.

That brought forth an interesting thought. Dumbledore wasn't anywhere around here. He knew that. So how were the shields still standing? Not only the shields, but the compulsion as well. They had to be set in something. If he could find it and destroy it, then he could walk out of here without any problem. He glanced at the two Fifth Years in the room with him. No problem at all.

His head suddenly flew up. He felt... He suddenly grinned and looked at Colin once more. "I would get out of here, if I were you."

"You can't trick us," Ginny disagreed.

Harry finally deigned to look at her. "Not you. I want *you* to stay." As she started to grin happily, he took great delight in bursting her bubble. "I want to deal with you myself. If my friends don't get you first." He looked at the doorway and smiled. "Hello, Flick."

Both Gryffindors turned around and stared at the hovering minidrag. Behind her, there was the sound of a door being blasted open.


	22. Chapter 73, 74 and 75

Hmm... these chapters seemed longer. Ah well, only a few more parts to go and it'll all be over.

Part 73/?

"Just what do you think you're doing, Mr. Malfoy?" Severus Snape's dark voice surprised the two students who had just exploded the door in front of them.

"Harry's here," Draco explained quickly. "Flick just flew in."

"And if he *is* being kept here, did you truly think announcing yourself like that is the best thing to have done?" Only his own wish to keep from announcing his presence kept his voice down to a reasonable level.

"It's Ginny Weasley," Draco explained, his tone explaining just how little a threat he truly considered her.

Severus considered that. "Are you sure?"

Draco nodded. "For some reason, Dobby couldn't give out her name, but that didn't stop him from getting his point across. He's been sending *warnings* to Harry about her. At least, that's how he considered it."

"That still does not make it too likely that she was the one who has taken him," Severus remonstrated.

"Ah, but then Dobby talked to Winky, and it turns out that Weasley had convinced Winky to tell her when Harry was out wandering around at night. She had convinced the stupid elf that she just wanted to talk to him." Draco rolled his eyes at the thought. "When Harry showed up in the kitchen this morning, she went and woke up Weasley."

Severus led the way into the room, wand first, checking it over carefully with eyes and magic. "And what brought you here?"

"Well, we knew that they couldn't have gotten far. Unlike us, Weasley's not able to get out and around as she wishes. There was also no way they were still in the school, including any of the special areas. Even if she had known how to get into them, she also had to know we would be looking in them first." Draco explained as he followed his Head of House, Zabini right behind them.

"Then we started trying to figure out what places outside of Hogwarts would be safe enough, and isolated enough, where no one would notice anything. Finally we thought of this place. We knew there was a route here from Hogwarts' grounds. Unfortunately, no one's bothered to tell us where it was, but we figured that Weasley the elder might have told his sister. As soon as we showed up outside of the place, Flick flew to the door, burned a hole in it and went in, so we figured this must be the right place." Draco made sure his voice was low and reached only the one he was talking to. Then, they heard a voice came from the floor above them.

"Flick! No!"

They raced up the stairs, to find what they had mostly expected. The Alaspinian mini-drag did indeed have Ginny Weasley pinned against the wall, face white and wand trembling in her hand. Colin Creevey was a surprise. So was Harry who was looking calm, although a trifle apprehensive, sitting up on an old rickety cot.

His head turned as they came in. "Make sure you're not drawing anything in," he ordered immediately.

The mages immediately understood and closed off their ability, while Blaise moved closer to the bed. He pulled up as his hands touched something he couldn't see, stopping him from getting any closer. Harry smiled at him. "Could you look around... carefully? There's got to be something nearby that's maintaining the spells; there's both a shield around the bed and a low level compulsion in the room."

Blaise looked around, but there was nothing obviously out of place. He frowned thoughtfully. "It *completely* surrounds the bed? Above and below it as well?" he checked.

Harry nodded. He'd used his magic to check that out practically as soon as he woke up.

Blaise, somewhat reluctantly, got down on the dusty floor and pulled himself under the bed. He wished one of the mages would do this, but he knew Draco wouldn't willingly get down onto the dirty floor when there was someone else to do it for him, and it was similarly impossible to imagine Professor Snape doing it.

There it was. A large, pure piece of amber would not normally be found on the floor of a place such as the Shrieking Shack. He started to reach out for it before catching himself and abruptly deciding against it. Instead, he reached in a pocket and pulled out a silk handkerchief, quietly thanking his mother for demanding he always carried one with him. He carefully wrapped the gemstone up, making sure not to touch it with his hands. He slithered out from under the bed.

"Thanks, Blaise," Harry said, having moved off of the bed the moment he felt the spell be smothered by the silk. He turned to his familiar. "Keep her still, will you? I've got to find a bathroom."

Severus held back a laugh by force of will. He'd heard that a lot, though he doubted it was anywhere near the amount of times his best friend did. However, his caution lead him to jerk his head towards Draco, ordering him to follow Harry... just to be sure.

As they left the room, he turned back to the students in front of him.

"You won't get away with this," Ginny was practically crying. "We'll free him one day, no matter what we have to do!"

"So," Severus murmured darkly. "You want to free him from being happy, just because it's not *you* he's happy with."

"That's not true!" Ginny actually stamped her foot in anger.

"You're a child," Severus pronounced, understandingly. "You don't understand that just because you want it, doesn't mean you're going to get it. I have no idea how a child of Molly Weasley's ended up so completely spoiled."

"I am *not* spoiled!" Ginny crossed her arms and glared.

Severus turned away from her. She honestly wasn't worth his trouble. There was no way she was going to get out of going to St. Mungo's this time. He looked at the other Gryffindor in the room. "And what exactly were you getting out of this, Creevey?" he asked.

"He gets to spend time with his crush," Harry announced as he came back into the room. He twirled his wand between his fingers. Once he'd left the room, he'd used a summoning charm on it, and it had quickly returned to where it belonged.

"You?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nope," Harry shook his head with a grin. "He's actually interested in her," he rolled his eyes. "If you can believe that."

"There's nothing wrong with Ginny!" Colin didn't like the way they were talking about the girl he liked.

"She's completely out of touch with reality!" Harry disagreed vehemently. "You, there might be some hope for. I do believe that you were simply manipulated by Dumbledore and Weasley. Unfortunately, the old man doesn't need actual compulsions to manipulate someone; after all, he's quite skilled at the game; he's been doing it for so long. I do think you believed that you were doing the right thing. Though, let me tell you this, kidnapping someone is *never* the right thing!"

Ginny suddenly shrieked. Everyone turned towards her to find her staring in horror at the snake still in front of her... and the smoking hole in the wood by her wand hand. A hand that slowly let go of the wand it was holding.

"Ginny, what were you doing?" Colin asked in disbelief. "You know how dangerous Alaspinian minidrags are! You were there in class when Hagrid showed them to us!"

Ginny seemed to have suddenly gotten her courage back. "It's okay," she told her friend. "See! She didn't actually hurt me. That's because Harry doesn't really want to hurt me. Deep inside, he knows I'm just trying to help. This proves that."

Harry rolled his eyes, an action copied by the Slytherins in the room. It shouldn't be possible for someone to be *that* out of touch with reality.

"You're right," Harry admitted. "I don't really want you hurt. Why not? Because that would hurt Ron, Fred, and George as well. I *like* Ron, Fred and George. I *don't* like you anymore, nor would I care what happens to you if it wasn't for that reason"

Ginny shook her head. "You're wrong, and I can prove it," she laughed. She turned towards Harry and stepped towards him. Flick hissed, but didn't attack again.

/_Flick?_/ Harry murmured the question.

*/_**I do not sense any danger**_/* the minidrag admitted.

Flick might not have felt any danger from the girl, but that didn't mean that Severus was going to let anyone so obviously unbalanced anywhere near his son. The binding spell he used was unknown to the students.

"What's that?" Draco asked, always interested in new spells.

"It's a binding spell... a very tight one," Severus admitted with a smirk. "It will not harm her, but she will not be *comfortable* until we decide what to do with her."

"What do you plan on doing to her?" Colin spoke up bravely.

*/_**Using her body as a nest for my babies sounds good**_/* Flick muttered unhappily.

Harry laughed. "You don't want to do that," he said out loud so that the others could understand him as well. "I'm sure she'd poison your babies if you fed them on her flesh."

Colin paled completely and shuddered. "You wouldn't... you couldn't!" he stuttered, unsure.

"At least that way she'd be useful," Draco replied.

"You wouldn't really," Colin looked around at all of the vindictive smirks and believed that they would.

"You can't expect Flick to nest in any old carcass, could you?" Harry asked seriously. He almost wished that Ginny wasn't so completely petrified so he could see the expression on her face, but it did help, at least knowing she could hear everything that was said and think about it as well.

"Does she nest in dead bodies?" Blaise asked with a thoughtful frown. "I thought they did like some spiders and used a paralyzing agent, so the body was still alive when the babies are born, so they'd have living flesh to eat when they're born."

"You mean, have their venom change from acid to a paralyzer as she gets closer to birth?" Harry considered. "I don't know, do they?"

Flick's hiss in answer was in truth simply laughter, but the others didn't need to know that. She could feel the terror that was finally starting to overtake the red-haired girl and was happy about it.

"That is another option. And since she was so determined to take my child from me, somehow, that solution would seem… appropriate." Harry winked so only Severus saw.

Severus smirked. Yes, the sensibilities of burgeoning parenthood, threatening those who would dare to interfere with their family. Harry helping Flick make plans for her nursery. How sweet. He would have to share this with Lucius.

He looked over at the Gryffindor girl and released her mouth. "What were you planning on doing when you started walking over to my son?" he asked darkly.

Ginny gulped back a sob. "I was just going to prove he wasn't gay," she admitted.

"And how were you going to do that?" Draco asked.

"I was going to kiss him," Ginny stuttered.

Harry looked at her in disbelief and then began to laugh. "You... you thought... what? You actually thought that kissing me would make me straight?" he managed to get out between laughs.

"No, but it would prove what you already know, deep down inside," she tried to explain.

"Trust me, girl, you're far more likely to make a straight man gay than the other way around," Harry muttered, disgusted. He turned to his father. "What are the other choices for getting her out of my life?"

"St. Mungo's, Mrs. Weasley, or put her up on the stand at the trial," Severus explained.

"I say the trial," Harry said after a moment of thought. "That way everyone can know how completely out of it she is." He stopped and blinked. "Aren't I supposed to be on the stand today?" he gasped, remembering.

"Don't worry, Father has it all under control," Draco reassured him. "Right?" he asked Severus.

"It might be best if we get there as soon as possible," Severus suggested.

Blaise grabbed Colin and pulled him out of the room, followed by Draco, Harry and Flick, who had settled once more on her bonded's shoulder. Severus followed after, magically dragging the Weasley girl after him, and making sure he gathered up the stone with the spell embedded within it, to provide as evidence. And if Ginny *accidentally* hit a few more walls and doorways than necessary, well who was to notice, anyway?

Part 74/?

Luckily for them, Severus had brought a portkey with him when they had come to rescue Harry. Therefore, it was only moments before they returned, all gathered in front of the doors leading to the courtroom, prisoners in tow.

Harry slowly pushed open the door and held up his hand to stop the others as he heard what was being said.

"He is simply stalling now!" Moody was saying. "If Harry Potter is not prepared to take the stand, than it is obviously because he has nothing to say. Therefore, I request this court be adjourned immediately, the case dismissed."

Harry couldn't let that go. He strode into the room, his very bearing showing determination and power. Flanked by his father and Slytherin friends, followed by a floating Ginny Weasley and hesitant Colin Creevey. "I'm right here," Harry announced, not that anyone was likely to have missed that fact. "And I'm more than ready to take the stand. As for why I was absent, you can thank Dumbledore for that as well."

"What do you mean by that, boy?" Moody asked.

Severus advanced towards the bench, the gem still within the silk Blaise had placed around it. He placed it before the judge. "We found this being used to help hold Harry hostage," he informed the Sidhe. "Creevey stated that Dumbledore gave it to Ginny Weasley and him."

Morann carefully unwrapped the piece of amber, only to immediately wrap it back up in the silk. "This does not look good for your client," he warned the ex-Auror.

"What exactly is that supposed to be?" Alastor asked.

"It's a shield spell wrapped in a compulsion," Harry explained.

Before any more could be said, Ron Weasley stormed down through the privacy curtain, glaring hard.

Moody grinned widely. "A bit unhappy with the way the girl is being treated, are you?"

Ron just shot him an annoyed glare before marching straight to his sister. "Take the spell off her," he ordered, and waited impatiently until it was done.

"It was awful, Ron!" Ginny cried as soon as she was let free. She let out a yelp as the infuriated boy didn't grab her into a hug and promise to take care of whoever hurt her, but instead grabbed her by the ear.

"What. Did. You. Think. You. Were. Doing?" he yelled, even as he dragged her out the door. "How could you even *think* of kidnapping Harry? I am *so* telling Mother! She can deal with you!" He turned back to the ones watching him in surprise. "I'll be back after I leave her with Mum," he explained. He continued on as he had been going, Ginny hitting his arm to try to make him let go; but it was clear the red-haired boy wasn't planning on releasing her ear anytime soon.

Harry laughed as soon as he was out of earshot. "Sometimes he's so like his mother," he explained. Everyone who knew Molly Weasley had to agree.

"That didn't quite go as we expected, but I wasn't about to argue with him about it," Draco whispered to Blaise. The other Slytherin grinned in response.

"Well, Mr. Snape, since you're here, would you care to take the stand?" Lucius asked. His tone might have seemed uncaring to those watching, but Harry just smiled gently in response, obviously seeing something in his husband's demeanor that they didn't.

"Of course, Lucius," Harry agreed.

Without hesitation, Harry strode up and took his seat. Severus followed after him and handed him the vial of potion made especially for him. Harry drank it down easily.

Severus watched him carefully, waiting for the potion to take effect. He turned to Lucius as he waited. "This won't act the same as Veritaserum. He will tell the truth, and only the truth, but you will have to keep on him to keep him on track and answering the particular questions you want answered. He will be free-associating and very liable to go off on tangents, many of which probably won't make sense to anyone but him. Just keep working to keep him focused, and eventually you will get him to answer the questions; although you might need to clarify or refine a question three or four times."

Lucius stepped forward. "Harry," he started.

"That's me! Harry James Potter Snape. How come I'm not Malfoy yet? Stupid rules."

"We're here to talk about school, remember? About Albus Dumbledore."

Harry frowned and sneered. "Hate him. He tried to kill my baby. I'm going to have a baby. So is Flick. Except she's going to have more than one. I'm only going to have one right now, but I want another one after that, and another one after that. I don't want my baby to be an only child. Of course, he's not going to be an only child because he's already got an older brother, and Draco's going to be a wonderful older brother, but a child should have someone near his own age to play with. As long as that person isn't an overgrown whale of a bully who's really mean to him. And no hand-me-downs. I don't want any of my kids to wear hand-me-downs, but that's okay, 'cause they're going to be Malfoys and no Malfoy would ever be caught dead in hand-me-downs."

Lucius blinked as Harry babbled on. He knew Severus said Harry would be hard to keep on track, but he didn't realize that meant his mouth would have free rein, rambling without screening any little input from his mind.

"When did you first meet Dumbledore?" Lucius tried to get him on track.

"Well, I guess I must have met him when I was a baby. He's the one that left me with the Dursleys. I don't really remember him from back then, though. I kind of remember Hagrid. He's the one that carried me over there on the back of his flying motorcycle; of course, it was originally Sirius'. I've never been on it since I grew up, though. I wonder if it's as fun as flying on a broom or my own wings? I miss flying."

Lucius decided to try another track. "What's your first *clear* memory?"

"Dudley's fourth birthday party. There were lots of people there and presents. There was a big cake; I could smell it! I could even see it a little when I looked through the slats on the vent, and I could hear the people at the party. They sang 'Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you…'"

Lucius tried to stop him but was unable to. He looked to Severus for an explanation. "When the association is very strong, such as a song, where the chains of remembrance are irrevocably connected, you're not going to be able to break it. Just hope it doesn't happen very often."

Finally Harry wound down and his face got sad. "I thought when my birthday came, I was going to get a birthday party too, and I could have cake. It looked and smelled so good. Maybe I'd even get presents! And I waited and I waited and I waited and I waited and I waited forever, but there was no party and no cake and no presents or friends or people singing to me."

"What did you mean by the slots in the vent?" Lucius asked. "Where were you?"

"I was in my room, in the cupboard under the stairs. It was about this big," he stretched out his arms to show how big it was. "And it's where all my friends were. There was Aye and Bee and Cee and Dee."

"Who were they?" Lucius asked softly.

"The spiders," Harry explained. "Aye was the biggest, when he stood on my hand he took up almost all the space, and Bee had a red spot on her belly. Cee made the prettiest webs, all going around and around and Dee was the littlest. He would jump all over me when I was trying to sleep. They never bit me, though. They were very nice, and they were my best friends."

Lucius looked out at the listening audience. He could see the sympathy and sorrow in many people's eyes as they heard the story of a little boy who just wanted a birthday party and whose only friends were a group of spiders, at least one of whom, was deadly poisonous. He could also see the angry looks being shot at both the Headmaster and the Dursleys, who were stuck off in a corner.

"When did you move out of the cupboard?" Lucius asked.

"When I was eleven and the Hogwarts letter came, and it was addressed to 'Harry Potter, Cupboard Under the Stairs'. Lots and lots of letters came, but I couldn't ever grab one. You'd think that a Seeker like me would have been able to grab at least one of them; there were bunches and bunches of letters. They came for days, and then the Dursleys moved me to Dudley's extra bedroom where he kept all of his broken toys. When the letters kept coming, Uncle Vernon took us all as far away as he could, but then Hagrid found us and he brought me a birthday cake! And when Dudley started to eat it, Hagrid gave him a pig's tail! You know, he really is a pig, though he's got to be more of a whale. I once saw him pick up a candy bar off the ground and eat it, and he'd bully any kid smaller than him to get their food... and everyone was littler than him."

Judge Morann interrupted with an admonishment to Minister Malfoy to try to keep his witness on track. Easier said than done.

Lucius gently pulled the details of Harry's first year at Hogwarts out of him, doing a fairly good job of keeping him on track. They did learn exactly what Harry thought about all of the teachers that first year, as well as most of the students in his year. The important parts were the giving of the invisibility cloak to an eleven year old, Harry finding of the Mirror of Erised, the quidditch match when he was almost killed, the troll, the race for the Philosopher's Stone at a time when Dumbledore just 'happened' to be out of the school, and finally, Dumbledore's reaction to Harry's asking not to go back to the Dursley's.

Second year was even more interesting, as far as the court was concerned. Lucius made sure to bring up Dumbledore's comments about Harry being in Gryffindor. "He said that the choice I made to be in Gryffindor meant I belonged in Gryffindor, that is was not innate talents that determined one's true House. But I was working off of incorrect and incomplete information when I made that choice. Hagrid had told me about Voldemort, how he killed my parents, and how he was from Slytherin. Hagrid had told me that all wizards that went bad came from Slytherin, but now I know that's ridiculous. Even if he didn't know of anyone else, he knew that everyone thought Sirius was a Death Eater, and he was a Gryffindor. And then I met Draco, and he was just like Dudley, a bully, and he was so sure he was going to be in Slytherin. I didn't want to be in the same House he was in. Of course, he turned out not to be as bad as he first seemed, but it took five years before he showed that he was human. Though, since there are people like Parkinson and Goyle in Slytherin, I'm just as glad I didn't go there despite the Hat said I'd do well there. Then again, Gryffindor isn't the greatest House in the world, no matter what Dumbledore would like you to think."

"You think Dumbledore is prejudiced towards Gryffindor?" Lucius asked.

"Yep," Harry nodded immediately. "What I really think is that he talked the Hat into putting him into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin, the same as I did. He really should have been Slytherin. He wanted to be great. I didn't, really. I just wanted to be *normal* and accepted and have friends, and I liked Ron a lot better than I did Draco right then. Then came second year and all that Chamber of Secrets stuff, and everyone thought I was the Heir of Slytherin, and Dumbledore didn't do a single thing to stop it. He just pointed me in the direction of the answer and left me to figure it out before anyone got killed."

"And on top of all that, he had to know Pettigrew was in Hogwarts all those years. Of course, now I think about it, I'd kind of have expected the twins to figure it out as well, but they probably didn't pay attention to a person that rarely left Gryffindor tower. After all, he wouldn't get in their way there. But I refuse to believe that four students could come up with such a thing as the Marauder's Map, which shows where everyone is, and how to get most places, and can't be fooled by animagus forms or the like, and yet Dumbledore didn't have one? It's not like they're hard to make, I made one for"

Lucius quickly interrupted him before he could say anything about that. It did not need to be public information, even if they had safeguarded it so that strangers couldn't use it.

"What else happened third year?"

Harry rambled on about Time Turners, Marauders and Dementors. He got sidetracked into memories of his parents, Draco being a git and exactly how close Pettigrew was to a real rat. Fourth year brought back memories of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Cho, his first crush, Rita Skeeter's twisted reporting... and Draco being a git. Fifth year took the most time... there was a lot to talk about, and even more for Harry to babble about.

Then came sixth year. And for the first time, Harry really began to get upset. Remembering what Dumbledore had done against his child brought it all back. Lucius and Severus both reached out to him. They probably didn't seem extremely demonstrative to those watching, but it was enough for Harry.

Then it was Moody's turn.

Part 75/?

Mad-Eye Moody stood in front of Harry for a long moment, just staring at him. His eye was spinning in its socket. Harry stared back for a minute before he started to giggle. Soon he was laughing hysterically. "Your eye! It's so funny!" he gasped out.

Alastor Moody actually took a step back. That was not a reaction he had ever received before. He snapped out. "And what is so funny about it?"

"It's spinning round and round, kind of like a whirly-gig," Harry laughed.

"I do not believe that has anything to do with this trial," Morann warned.

Moody bit out an apology. "I am sure you had a hard childhood," he said turning back to Harry, "but do you truly believe you can blame Albus Dumbledore for it?"

Harry answered with an unqualified "Yes." Of course, thanks to the potion, he wasn't able to keep his answer that short. "He had people watching me the whole time. They were told they couldn't do anything unless I was going to be seriously, permanently hurt or raped. I wonder why? Why allow them to abuse me in some ways, but not others? I'd think it was because he didn't want me to get pregnant, but he only really seemed worried about my pregnancy when he thought the father was a mage, and there's no way Uncle Vernon or Dudley are mages."

Moody seemed not to know what to say about that. It said a lot about how truly evil Harry believed Dumbledore to be. There had to be another explanation. The Albus Dumbledore he had known and trusted for years would never do such a thing. He was determined to get to the bottom of this.

"Perhaps he trusted your family to take care of you? You are their nephew after all."

"He *knew* what happened to me. He had Aurors stationed by the house, keeping track of everything. Lucius and Severus found that out this summer. Plus they found out everything my relatives had done to me, and they weren't happy about that, either. They were really, really mad."

Moody tried another track. "Do you know what Malfoy did to your relatives?"

"Nope. Don't care, either," Harry replied easily. "I got my revenge on them, but I always figured that it wouldn't be enough for Lucius and Sev. To them, I'm family after all, and they take someone harming their family very seriously. Plus they were disgusted that people would treat a blood relative left in their care the way the Dursleys treated me. Lucius let me do what I wanted, and waited until I was through before he did what he wanted. That way everyone was happy."

"The Dursleys weren't happy."

"Sure they were. They never had to see me again. I'm sure that made them happy. I was certainly happy when I realized I'd never have to see them again. No more having to get up at five to cook their breakfasts and getting only a single piece of toast, if I was lucky. No more having to worry about waking them up with my nightmares, because then Uncle Vernon would come into the room and use his belt to beat me because I woke them up. No more getting locked into my room except when I had chores or to occasionally go to the bathroom. I'm very happy about it; and just think, they don't have to live with 'the freak' anymore. That's what they think about wizards, you know. That we're freaks. I didn't even know there was such a thing as magic until Hagrid came to get me."

"Dumbledore helped you during your first year, did he not? He gave you the invisibility cloak." Moody tried again.

"Yes he did," Harry admitted. "It was my father's. It was the first thing of my parents' I had ever received, and I loved it for that. But what eleven year old, first year student should ever have such a thing? It was an invitation for me to break rules and be out where I should not have been. There was no other reason for it to be given to me. Even when he found me out wandering around, finding the Mirror of Erised- which was already one part of the traps keeping the Sorcerer's Stone safe and shouldn't have been anywhere near the room in which I found it- all he did was tell me that what I was looking at wasn't real. He didn't say anything about me being out in the middle of the night. And it wasn't until after that, that the Mirror was moved. Every time I would consider not worrying about the Sorcerer's Stone, something would happen that would have me searching for it again. Finally, I stopped Quirrel. Why me? I was eleven years old! I shouldn't have been worrying about saving the world and stopping a madman from gaining immortality. And you know what Dumbledore told me when I woke up, after I almost died? He told me that they'd destroyed the Stone because it was too dangerous. Why hadn't they done that months before and never had to worry about it? I'll tell you why! Because if they had, then I wouldn't have had any reason to be a daring hero, I wouldn't have had to try to save everyone... again! If it wasn't for that, I might not have gotten it into my head so much that it was my job to be the 'Golden Boy' people had been considering me since I was only one year old! And why was that? Why was the wizarding world so completely convinced that a *child* could kill their enemy? I was set up to become a *murderer* from the time I was a baby! Tell me that Dumbledore didn't have anything to do with that! Tell me that he wasn't the one who started the whole 'Boy Who Lived' nonsense! Of course, I won't believe you, but you can try anyways, right?" Finally he wound down.

"What do you mean, murderer?"

"As the Muggles would say... duh! I was supposed to defeat the Dark Lord once and for all, remember? How exactly was I supposed to do that if I didn't kill him? Heck, he even had a Death Eater, working under your identity, teach me the Unforgivable curses, just to make sure I could! Of course, if I ever had used one to end the Snake Man's miserable existence, Fudge would have arrested me and sent me directly to Azkaban for it, and Dumbledore wouldn't have done a damn thing to save me. Ever since I got rid of Voldemort, it was like I was suddenly persona non grata to him. Except when he could make my life worse of course, like when he refused to let either Sirius or Severus take me in over the summer. You can't tell me he had a real reason for that! Sirius had the ability to take care of me, and the right, since he was my godfather. But no, Dumbledore and Fudge said it wasn't safe! Then Severus tried to get guardianship of me like we'd planned before my godfather was freed, and Dumbledore put a nix to that plan as well. He sent me back to the Dursleys, knowing how they had treated me all my life. The only thing he couldn't have known was the plans we had made that allowed me to get away from them. Of course, he ordered that I not leave the house, but for once I didn't pay any attention to his rules, and managed to have a free summer. At least until I saw Draco and he made his father invite me to live with them."

"You'd rather live with Malfoy than your relatives?"

"Of course I would! Lucius hasn't ever tortured anyone just for the sheer pleasure of it, unlike my 'loving family' did to me!"

Lucius groaned and hid his head in his hand, while behind the privacy curtain, Draco was completely cracking up. "Well, there's a rousing endorsement," Blaise whispered to his friend.

"So he has tortured people?" Moody jumped on it immediately.

"Well, I don't know personally," Harry answered. "But it certainly wouldn't surprise me."

"Then how can you trust him?"

"Because he's never lied to me, something Dumbledore has done for the entire time I have known him. Because he's never tried to use me, again as Dumbledore has done from the first."

"Are you saying he didn't use your popularity in order to get his place as Minister of Magic?" Moody pounced immediately.

Harry laughed. "He didn't use me. That entire thing was my idea. Fudge was out of control, and I wanted him out of office. Of all those I know, I believed that Lucius would be the best one to put in his place. So I pretty much told him I was going to do it, then gathered my friends together and the five of us set it all up with practically no input from either Lucius or Severus."

"As interesting as this might be," Morann said sternly. "It is not important to this trial. If you cannot keep your questions and your witness to the limitations set forth, we will end this now."

"Yes, sir," Moody agreed. He turned back to Harry. His questions from then on were direct and to the point. Harry seemed to be in more control, better able to keep his answers on track as well. However, it was not to such a point that it helped Moody's case in any way. Perhaps if he had been under Veritaserum it would have been different. If Moody had been able to keep him to one-word responses, he might have gotten the answers he wanted. However, each time a question had been answered, it would also be qualified. To the question "Did Dumbledore help Sirius Black escape?" the answer was "Yes." However, it was also "Of course, that was so that he could use him to spy, and so he'd have someone to hold over my head as leverage for the next two years."

By the end of the day, one thing had become absolutely clear; Dumbledore was going to go up on the stand. There was nothing more that could be done. No matter how Moody had tried, he was not able to bring up anything that would seem to cast Dumbledore in a good light. By this time, even he was wondering if there might be some truth in the accusations that had been made. Still, there must surely be good reasons. Reasons that would come to light when he took the stand. They had been in a war, after all. Sacrifices had to be made; that was necessary and expected.

It was too late for the old mage to take the stand that day. The trial would continue the next morning. During the free time, the first thing Harry wanted to make sure of was what had happened to Ginny. He didn't want to have to worry about her making another attempt against him. Of course, Lucius had already made arrangements to ensure that nothing like that could happen that night. He would be taking Harry with him back to the Manor instead of staying at Hogwarts.

Ginny, it seemed, was currently safe in her mother's loving arms. Or at least her hands, because Ginny would swear that her mother's fingers had left her ear only long enough for a wooden spoon to be touching other parts of her anatomy. Molly Weasley was *not* pleased with her only daughter, and was extremely capable of making that displeasure known. Ron admitted though, that it was probably her *father's* disappointment that hurt the fifteen year old the worst. She had always been the apple of her father's eye, and was very much a daddy's girl. It still had not been decided whether she would be checked into St. Mungo's or not, but arrangements had already been made to keep her out of school until a decision had been made.

Snape and McGonagall were taking Colin Creevey back to Hogwarts. His fate hadn't been decided yet either, but Colin was certainly dreading it. He knew that it was possible to have a worse fate than whatever the Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster would dream up, since, if Harry had chosen, he could have been arrested for kidnapping; but that wasn't much of a comfort at this point. Especially considering the fact that Severus was still seething over some of the information that had been discovered at the trial. McGonagall herself was not in a much better mood. The idea that a man she had idolized for so many years, whom she had considered the best Headmaster in the history of the school, could be so ... cold and calculating, so inhuman. It was almost too much to bear.

The night was quiet in the Manor, at least until they went to sleep. Although Harry had shown little of it in front of the strangers at the trial, a lot of memories had been dredged up, many of which he had never wanted to think about again. Twice during the night Harry woke both he and his husband up with his nightmares. Both times it took Lucius some time in order to get him calm enough to go back to sleep. After the first time, Harry suggested he move back to his old room, since Lucius would need his sleep in order to be sharp the next day when going up against Dumbledore. Truth potion or not, both expected Dumbledore would have an ace or three up his sleeve. Lucius refused to allow Harry to go to a separate room and suffer alone through his nightmares. He instead found a *pleasant* way to exhaust Harry so utterly after the second awakening, that they had a hard time getting up in the morning. But at least there were no more nightmares.

Finally, it was the time they all had waited for. Finally, Dumbledore would be brought up on the stand. And finally, they might actually get some answers! There was an air of tension about all those who came to see the trial to its conclusion. The reporters were poised with their quills, ready to record every word spoken and expression seen. The students were waiting with bated breath to see Dumbledore get what he deserved. And some just wanted it all to be over.

Dumbledore was taken to the stand, still under guard. Severus double-checked the potion, making sure it was the double strength one, that it had not been tampered with, and that it was still at full potency. Only then did he give it to the older man to drink. Not for Dumbledore the three drops that would make it last an hour. They expected this to take all day; Severus was not taking any chances that the potion would run its course while no one noticed.

Lucius walked up when Severus nodded at him. For days he had been carefully considering how to commence his line of questioning, and finally decided to begin with what had started this all. "Did you know that Harry was being abused while a ward of the Dursleys?"

"I did not." Dumbledore replied evenly.


	23. Chapter 76 and 77

I know, I know, another short one, and yet another cliffy. But that's not my fault! All these chapters ended with cliffies. But, there's only 81 chapters... and three epilogues... so it's coming to a close really quickly.

Part 76/?

The reaction to that statement was extreme.

Moody sat back, vindicated.

Severus double and triple checked the potion, as well as the fact that Dumbledore had taken it.

Lucius reconsidered his question, trying to see how the wily old mage might have worked it around to get a negative answer.

It took everything Harry had to keep from yelling at the old man.

Behind the privacy curtain, the reaction was much louder. People were shouting and arguing with each other. Aurors who Dumbledore had personally Obliviated when they wouldn't accept what was happening at the Dursleys argued with those who believed in the ex-Headmaster. Hermione and friends were desperately trying to figure out how the old man had done it.

Suddenly, the Gryffindor brainiac's eyes flew open and she jotted down a thought quickly. Then she raised her hand in the air and started waving it wildly. It took Severus nodding in her direction to get Lucius over there. He took the paper from her, and his eyebrow rose in interest.

He turned back toward the old man and asked the question Hermione had brought up. "What is your name?"

"Albus Dumbledore," the mage answered immediately.

Well, so much for that idea, Lucius thought. Still... perhaps... "How old are you?" he asked. Hermione's suggestion that the person in the seat might have been an imposter was still a good one.

"One hundred and sixty-eight," Dumbledore replied.

"What was your job one year ago today?" Lucius asked.

"Headmaster of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Well, if he couldn't find out a reason that way, he'd simply have to go for it another way.

"Who is that person?" he asked, pointing towards his husband.

"Harry James Potter Snape."

"When did you first see him?"

"When he was three days old."

"How often did you see him before the Potters went under Fidelius charm?"

"Twice."

"Once the Potters had gone into hiding, when was the next time you saw Harry?"

"When Hagrid brought him to me at Privet Drive."

"How did you know he was still alive?"

"Hagrid contacted me when he was found."

"Why did you not go yourself?"

"Severus Snape had returned to tell me what had happened during the raid and I needed to take his report."

"Why did you dispatch Hagrid?"

"I had felt the Fidelius charm going down. Upon realizing that I knew where the Potters were living, I felt it best to send someone. Few people would mess with Hagrid, and the Potters knew him well. If they were still alive, they would trust him."

"Why did you decide to place Harry with the Dursleys?"

"They had a child Harry's age. They were his blood relatives and there were wards that could be placed upon him if he stayed there. I also believed that it would be better for him to grow up without the fame that would have smothered him in the wizarding world."

"Did you have anyone watching?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Arabella Figg, a witch I've trusted for years, took a house not far from the Dursleys and became Harry's babysitter."

"Who else?"

"No one." Again there was a great deal of conversation and shocked looks.

"Did Madam Figg ever tell you, by voice or written word, of Harry being mistreated?"

"She did not."

Lucius was getting frustrated, but did not let it show.

"When did you next see Harry?"

"When he entered the Great Hall for his Sorting."

"Why did you not check up on him before then?"

"I trusted the ones who were watching over him, and did not wish to give away his location if someone was watching me."

"Did you try to push Harry away from Slytherin?"

"I did."

Finally! Something they might be able to use. "Why?"

"I felt it was the safest way. I was aware that several of the students in Slytherin were the children of Death Eaters, and wished to keep Harry away from them."

Wonderful, an acceptable and reasonable explanation. *Not* exactly what they were looking for.

"Why did you give Harry the invisibility cloak during his first year at school?"

"I promised his father I would give it to him as soon as possible."

Slowly they worked through the first five years of Harry's schooling. For every question Lucius asked, Dumbledore either had a reasonable answer, or he didn't know. Still, the Minister was sure he'd get him during sixth year.

"Why did you send Harry back to the Dursleys when there were others that were able and willing to take him?"

"There was no guarantee that Harry was safe from people who wished to get revenge on him for destroying Voldemort; therefore I felt it was best that he remain within the safety of his family."

"Why did you try to hire a member of the Sidhe?"

"I believed he would be a good influence on Harry, as well as help several other students get away from bad situations."

"Which students?" Lucius wasn't entirely sure why he'd asked that question. Outside of Harry and Draco's friends, he'd had almost nothing to do with the students of Hogwarts, especially the younger grades. The time he'd spent as substitute DADA teacher did not leave him time, nor really, the inclination, to get to know those students better.

Dumbledore gave up several names. Lucius looked over at Harry who was looking very confused. Harry quickly wrote something down and handed it to his husband as he walked over. 'None of those are students that claimed Sanctuary, nor are they ones that I, Severus, or as far as I know, O'Feahr had marked as worrisome. They are, however, all Slytherins.' Lucius read that out so the court could hear it. "How come they are all Slytherins?" he asked.

"None of them come from Dark families, therefore, there is likely some problem at home that would cause them to be in Slytherin," Dumbledore answered.

"You do not worry about students in other Houses?" Lucius asked, trying to keep the anger out of his voice. He could tell by looking around that there were many more angry looks being given to the Headmaster. Even if they never figured out how he was lying, he'd never be allowed back to his old job, not when he had shown he was so completely blind to the truth of the reasons for the different Houses, and clearly biased against Slytherin.

"The other students have a good support system already in place."

Lucius just shook his head and wondered, not for the first time, if the old man was simply deluded. "Didn't Harry?"

"Harry had changed over the past year. I believed that giving him an adult to watch over him, other than Professor Snape, might be a good idea."

"In what ways had he changed?"

"He was drawing away from his friends, spending most of his time either in the library or the dungeons, becoming secretive. He would not talk to anyone about what was bothering him. His overall demeanor was much quieter as well."

"Why did you dislike the idea of Harry being pregnant?"

"He was much too young."

"Why did you try to kill the child?"

"I did not."

"Let me rephrase," Lucius said tightly. "Why did you order Madam Pomfrey to give Harry an abortifacient?"

"I did not."

Harry growled.

"Why did you tell her that it was Severus or Voldemort's child?"

"I did not."

"Where did the prophecy in Godric's rooms come from?"

"I don't know of any prophecy."

"Why did you give O'Feahr the impression that the child was Severus' and Harry was being abused?"

"I did not."

"I have a question!" Harry shouted out, finally having heard enough. "Who the Hell did your memory charm?"

"Mr. Snape!" Morann warned dangerously. However, before anything more could be said, Dumbledore's voice was heard.

"I can't say."

The entire room went still.

Part 77/?

"Ha! If someone placed him under a memory charm, then obviously there is someone else involved. More than likely, Voldemort got hold of him at some point and placed him under a compulsion," Moody said victoriously.

Lucius shook his head. "I'm afraid you are mistaken. There are only two ways that we could have received the answer, 'I can't say' to that question. Either the one who placed the 'Obliviate' on Dumbledore was incompetent, or he did it to himself. I do not believe it was the first one. If someone competent had done the memory charm, he would not remember it was done at all, not even under Veritaserum. However, it is impossible to memory charm yourself without at least remembering you did it. He could then have placed a compulsion or the like on himself not to reveal himself, but he couldn't make himself forget it."

"Can you break the memory charm?" Morann asked.

Lucius looked thoughtful. He gestured for Severus to join him and they spoke together for several minutes. Severus went back to his post as Lucius stood in front of the court. "I do not believe so. Although St. Mungo's and the Ministry have many talented people with the ability to break memory charms, none of them are powerful enough to break through Dumbledore's mind. And although myself, Severus Snape, Harry Snape and Draco Malfoy have the power, none of us have the ability to do so. It would, I believe, take many months, perhaps even years of study before any of us would be considered competent in that particular task."

"Although his being under a memory charm is a large indicator, what exactly it indicates is the question. Unless you can prove, beyond what you already have, that he, himself, placed the charm, it will be very difficult to come up with a guilty verdict," Morann warned.

Lucius nodded. "That, we might be able to do." He turned back to the spectators. "Miach of the Tuatha de Danaan, did you check this man for compulsions?"

The Sidhe healer shook his head, knowing that he wouldn't be heard up front with the privacy curtain still up.

"Thyme Scarborough of Hogwarts, have you checked this man for compulsions?"

The young Slytherin shook her head.

"Could one of you do so?"

The two of them talked together for a moment, the girl seeming to disagree with whatever the man was saying, but finally she stepped forward and through the curtain. "He believes that I would have the best chance of finding it if it's there, since I've had more experience," she explained.

She walked up to Dumbledore and took a deep breath. Reluctantly, she placed her hands on the old mage's face and looked deep into his clouded blue eyes. It was more difficult than it had ever been before. She had to work through the still active Veritaserum. After all, it could be considered a compulsion as well. Even the memory charm was there on the edges of her *sight*. Finally she saw it, and with a sigh of relief, stepped back. She nodded. "There's a compulsion on him," she announced.

"Will the potion interfere with the Veritaserum? It's kind of reading like a compulsion to me."

Everyone who knew where the potion originally came from looked over to Miach. He slowly shook his head. It would not.

"Is it safe?" Moody asked with a hard voice.

Miach nodded.

"If the God of Natural Healing, who created the potion in the first place, believes it is safe, I will allow it," Morann answered.

Severus hurried to where he had been keeping the last of the anti-compulsion potion and pulled it out. Without bothering to ask for permission, or see if he would take it by himself, he poured it down Dumbledore's throat and forced him to swallow.

Thyme rechecked the old man and stepped back. She turned to the judge. "He's clear," she said softly. "And as far as I can tell, the Veritaserum is still active."

"Thank you, child," Morann replied.

She nodded in response and headed back to her seat. Lucius turned back to the man on the stand.

"Who placed the memory charm upon you?"

"Albus Dumbledore."

"One more time, just to make sure, did you memory charm yourself?"

"Yes."

"Why did you Obliviate yourself?"

"I don't know."

Lucius just nodded.

The judge turned to Moody. "Do you wish a chance to question him before I make my judgment?"

"Of course I do!" Moody said immediately.

Alastor Moody decided to make his questions as straight to the point as possible. And this time he didn't have to worry about getting more answer than he wanted.

"Have you ever done anything to harm Harry Potter?"

"No."

"Have you ever done anything to harm any student under your guardianship?"

"No, I have not."

"Did you know Harry Potter was being harmed at his family's house?"

"I did not."

"Did you purposefully push Harry towards becoming a hero?"

"I did not."

"Did you try to harm the child Harry Potter is currently pregnant with?"

"I did not."

"Did you place compulsions upon anyone?"

"No, I did not."

Moody turned away from the one he was questioning and looked at the judge. "I believe it has been proven adequately, that Albus Dumbledore did not do that with which he is charged, and all charges should be dropped."

Morann looked at him coldly. "I disagree. Although we do not have proof, only denial from his own mouth, we do have enough witnesses to show what the memory charm he has admitted placing upon himself is covering."

Moody shook his head. "We know he was under a compulsion. There is nothing to say that someone else did not place the compulsion upon him. There is nothing to say that the compulsion did not force him to obliviate himself."

"There is some sense in what you have said," Morann agreed slowly.

Harry jumped to his feet in protest and just barely caught himself from yelling out his disagreement. He knew the Judge would not accept that from him again. However, his glare at both the ex-Headmaster and his Defender told them exactly what he thought of that.

"However," Morann continued. "If that is so, the wizarding world is in far worse straits than I had believed possible. If someone is powerful enough to place a compulsion upon Albus Dumbledore, of such strength and with such a lasting impression, a compulsion that must have lasted over fifteen years, and gone so strongly against accepted morals, than the wizarding world is in greatest danger."

"Voldemort..." Moody started.

"Was not that powerful," Lucius disagreed immediately. "Since Severus and Harry have both successfully fought off compulsions by him, at least to such an extent that they knew they were under one, and were able to get others to break it for them, then anyone able to keep a compulsion upon a mage of Dumbledore's strength must be several times more powerful. Voldemort was simply not that powerful."

"That is still not proof that it is not true," Moody argued.

"It doesn't matter," Lucius retorted. "If he was under a compulsion and did nothing to fight against it, then as far as I'm concerned, that means he is just as guilty as if he was in his right mind. We have absolutely no proof that it is true that someone else placed the compulsion, and ample proof that it is not true."

"So you are saying that a mage under Imperious *can* be blamed for what they did?" Moody pounced immediately and intently.

Harry, Severus and Draco all tensed where they sat, knowing what Moody was aiming for and willing the older man to be able to get out of the trap the ex-Auror was laying.

Lucius didn't seem to worry. "I am saying that a mage, who knows he is a mage, and who is not having the compulsion routinely reinforced by the one who laid the spell, can be blamed for his actions." He skillfully dodged the bullet. "Of course, I don't know why we're even arguing over this. The decision is not ours to make." He turned back to the judge. "I am not happy with the information we have been given. Not because of some possible compulsion placed upon him, a compulsion I do not believe in, but because we have been robbed of the answers this trial was supposed to give us. My lover might never know why a man he should have been able to trust has done nothing but bring harm to him. My friend might never know why a man he trusted, looked up to, and worked for for years, betrayed all that he stood for. But at least they will know that this *man* can never harm them again. And if that is the only answer we can get from this trial, then, with that we will have to be satisfied. We await your judgment." With a slight bow, he settled down next to his young husband.

Morann was silent for long, long minutes, before he sighed. "I, too, am not satisfied with the answers that have been given. I am sure the wizarding world as a whole is not satisfied, either. However, with no way to get at the memories buried in this man's head, we have no choice but to bring forth a judgment on the evidence that has been given."

"Actually," a melodious voice brought all attention to the doors of the courtroom. The voice was not very loud, but it cut through the silence like a cannon shot, breaking through the privacy curtain as if it wasn't even there. "I believe I can help you with that."

Standing by the doors leading into the room was an old man. Old, but still strong. With long white hair and beard, by no means as long as Dumbledore's, but still of decent length. However, his most distinguishing feature was his sparkling, jade green eyes.

"Dear Merlin," Harry gasped, staring into eyes the exact same color of his own.

"Indeed," Merlin replied gently.


	24. Chapter 78, 79, 80 and 81

Almost done! Only the epilogues left! Ain't you lucky? ^_^. Thanks for sticking by me all this way. An extra long section today.

Part 78/?

For those that had understood those words, it was a revelation. Person after person jumped to their feet, only to bow as the living legend walked by. Even the Malfoys and Snapes bent their heads They might not willingly kneel to anyone, but they honored power, and that was one thing this man certainly had. Even those who didn't know who he was could feel the power that he wore like a cloak, power radiating from him to such a degree the wizards had never before seen.

Myrddin Emrys nodded to them as he passed, but his attention was on the one who shared his eyes, and the barely felt indications of the child he was carrying. He smiled gently at the boy, before walking towards the reason he had come. He had heard much of this man from both the foster daughter of Aine and the half-blooded Sidhe, Connor O'Feahr. He did not appreciate what he had heard. Still, he would not have interfered if he had not been kept abreast of the situation while the trial wore on. He knew there was no one there capable of dealing with such a memory charm; but one good thing gained from living a long time is the opportunity to learn much that a normal person, with a normal lifespan, would not have had the time to learn. And if there was a threat to his heir, it needed to be dealt with.

"My Lord, Merlin," Lucius said respectfully. "Any help you can give us would be greatly appreciated."

Technically, Alastor Moody knew he should object to a person who was not a registered Obliviator or medi-wizard trying to break a memory charm. However, by this time, he too wanted answers, answers that could not be received without the charm being broken. And, in truth, he was not going to argue over it with *Merlin* of all people!

Merlin stopped in front of Harry, who had stood and was waiting for him. "May I?" he asked.

Harry looked deep into his eyes for a long, long moment. Finally, he nodded his permission. He never took his eyes or magic sense off of the legendary mage, as the man placed his hands upon Harry's stomach. He closed his eyes as he felt... a moment of greeting perhaps?

Merlin stepped back with a tiny smile, and a far away look in his eyes. "It is nice to meet you," he said, although it was impossible to know to which of them he was speaking.

Without waiting for an answer, if indeed he was expecting one, he turned back to the mage in the witness chair.

To most of those watching, nothing happened at all. For long minutes the two simply stared at one another. Ten minutes… twenty… Finally, there was a reaction. Dumbledore's eyes shut and his face twisted as if he were in pain. Sweat beaded at Merlin's hairline. All at once, the ex-Headmaster's body relaxed completely, sagging against the chair. Merlin took a deep breath as he stepped back. "I believe it is done. Will you check?"

Lucius stepped forward and looked into the dazed blue eyes that were just opening, but not showing the slightest sign of twinkling. "Did you know Harry's relatives were harming him?"

"I did."

"Why did you allow it?"

"It made him stronger."

Lucius was silent for a long moment, thinking. "Why else?"

"It made him grateful."

"Grateful to you or to the wizarding world?"

"Both."

Lucius still didn't think he had the entire truth. "It made him strong, it made him grateful... why else?"

"It kept him from getting an ego, from letting being the 'Boy Who Lived' take over his life."

"So, you say it made him strong, grateful, ignorant and humble." Lucius knew that couldn't be all; Dumbledore had taken too much trouble to hide what he had done. "Why else?" his voice was hard.

"It made him ..." Dumbledore seemed to be fighting the potion, but lost. "controllable."

"What do you mean, controllable?" Lucius struck, knowing this was important.

"He was used to taking orders."

"Why was that important?"

"He's a mage."

"And that means?"

"He's a danger if he's not controlled."

"You're a mage."

"I was raised correctly."

"Then, why didn't you raise him yourself?"

"No mage should raise another."

"If he had not been a mage, would you have allowed him to stay with the Dursleys?"

"I would not."

Lucius was just getting more confused. "Why should one mage not raise another?"

"Mages can not coexist peacefully. If not taken care of early, he would have been a danger to the wizarding world, as Voldemort was before him."

"To the wizarding world, or to you?"

"It's the same thing."

"What do you mean, it's the same thing?"

"It's my job to protect the wizarding world from any threats. A new mage is a threat that I would eventually have to take care of."

"Am I a threat?"

"Of course."

"Is Draco?"

"Yes."

"Did you know Severus Snape was a mage before last year?"

"I did not."

"What would you have done if you had known it?"

"I would have allowed him to be sentenced to life in Azkaban." Dumbledore answered evenly.

Lucius looked over at his friend, and took note of the anger, rage and betrayal so obvious on his face. At least obvious to one who knew him as he did. He decided to skip much of what they went over earlier. There were some questions that could no longer wait. They had waited long enough.

"Did you leave orders with those watching Harry, that he not be raped?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I did not want him completely broken."

"Why not?"

"It was likely he would be needed to fight Voldemort again."

"Did you put compulsions upon him?"

"Yes."

"What compulsions?"

"That he know he was not capable of fighting against me, that he would trust me, and to fight Voldemort."

"Why didn't you fight the Dark Lord yourself?"

"Everyone expected Harry to do it."

"Why else?"

"The world could not survive without me. There was a good chance that whoever fought Voldemort would die in the attempt. Harry was expendable."

"Were your other students expendable?"

"If necessary."

"Did you use compulsions upon students other than Harry?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It was in their best interest to do as I asked."

"Did you place a compulsion upon Madam Pomfrey?"

"I did."

"Did you make her use an abortifacient on Harry Potter Snape?"

"I did."

"Why did you try to kill our child?"

"The prophecy proves that the child of two mages would be a danger to the side of the Light."

"And that makes the death of an innocent acceptable?"

"Any sacrifice is appropriate if it is for the greater good."

"Where did you get this prophecy?"

"I found it in Godric Gryffindor's rooms at Hogwarts."

"Who placed it there?"

"Godric Gryffindor."

Lucius shook his head. "No, he did not. He didn't believe in prophecies and certainly didn't have any in his private library."

Dumbledore just blinked, looking confused.

Lucius looked over at the table where Harry was sitting looking sick. He looked at the man next to him and then turned back. "How many people have you placed under compulsions?"

Dumbledore was silent.

"An estimate is acceptable."

"Two hundred," Dumbledore finally said.

"How many of those were students under your guardianship?"

"Most."

"What compulsion did you place them under?"

"Simply that they follow my directions under certain circumstances."

"Such as you getting arrested?" Lucius asked.

"Yes."

"Did you ever convince the Board of Directors to reinstate you by making them believe I had threatened them?"

"Yes."

Harry straightened up in surprise, as did several others. Lucius raised an eyebrow at his husband, but then went on.

"Did you place compulsions on people to find Merlin?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I have been told that either Harry or his child is Merlin's Heir. If that is so, then he will obviously be taking them away."

"What? Why?" Harry shouted. He jumped to his feet and moved away from the eldest mage.

Merlin just frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"There are many things Merlin will have to teach his Heir, so obviously he would have to take him away," Dumbledore answered.

Merlin shook his head. "I do not know where you received your information from, but I can assure you it is not true. Although there are many things I have to teach my Heir, I would not do it with him so young, nor without his informed permission. Upon his eighteenth birthday, if he has graduated from school by that time, he may choose to come with me so I may teach him. I have lived this long, another twenty or thirty years will not vex me in the least."

Harry looked at him deeply, as if trying to read his mind, before he slowly settled down next to him once more.

Part 79/?

For the next four hours Lucius questioned the old mage. Although it started out about Harry, it soon spread to the man's entire life. In the end, it all came down to a few factors.

First, there was the fact that Albus was a mage. This fact had been discovered when he was only five, when, wanting a sweet he'd been denied, he'd turned every bit of furniture in his playroom into candy. He'd been raised by a family and in a time that believed that mages could not work together, and that it was dangerous for everyone if they did so. That idea, being learned when he was very young, was very deeply ingrained in his subconscious. It was solidified by how rare mages were believed to be, and that most known mages were either hermits or evil.

Next there was his fame. Not only for being a mage, though that was a major source, but also for his defeat of Grindelwald. From the very beginning he had been praised just for the power he had. Then, he'd been lauded and praised for defending the wizarding world against the current Dark Lord, called their Savior. He had started to believe his own press. Deep down, Harry started to wonder if maybe Dumbledore had been, subconsciously, trying to keep Harry from making the same mistakes he had.

There was also the fact that power corrupts, and Dumbledore had been the most powerful for almost a century. Everyone else had considered him omnipotent, and he had come to believe it himself.

Once Lucius was done, Moody stepped forward. He knew there was nothing he could ask that could in any way redeem what they all had heard, from Dumbledore's own mouth. Moody's single question was whether Dumbledore had ever placed him under a compulsion, and he was slightly happy to find that the answer was 'no'.

Finally it was time for the closing statements. Lucius went first. He kept it short and sweet, believing everything that needed to be said had already been said.

"There is no doubt that Albus Dumbledore has done everything that he has been charged with, and far more. He has harmed not only Harry Potter, now Snape, but also countless others, placing students under compulsions and using his influence against the wizarding world itself. I do not believe there has been anything said that could excuse or justify his behavior. It is up to this court to punish him to the fullest extent of the law."

Moody stood up next and kept it even shorter. "I believe the only thing that has truly been proved by this trial is that Albus Dumbledore is sick. He needs help, not punishment."

Morann announced a recess for the night, promising to state his judgment first thing in the morning. It didn't take any persuading at all to gather everyone on their side together and transfer them all to Malfoy Manor, Merlin most definitely included.

Harry quickly introduced everyone and they all talked amiably through supper. Afterwards though, it was inquisition time.

"Okay," Harry addressed Merlin, once all the guests were seated in one of the informal living rooms. "Explain please. What's the big deal about being your Heir? Why did Dumbledore think you'd take my baby away, and what did you mean about living another twenty or thirty years?"

Merlin smiled slightly, his green eyes warm, as he looked at the last of his line, though Harry obviously wouldn't be so for much longer. "Do you know how the wards of an ancient place, such as Hogwarts or this Manor, work?"

Some people said yes immediately, while others were clueless. "Many types of wards have to be anchored to a person, a person with enough magic to hold them. This anchoring is at such a deep level that it is almost impossible to break, short of the person's death. In a place like this, the anchor will automatically move to the designated Heir upon the death of the original holder. The holder of the anchor doesn't have to stay at the Manor, or even be anywhere in it's vicinity, not even on the same plane of existence. As long as the person is still alive, the wards will hold. In a place like Hogwarts, the Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress would be considered the designated Heir, and the anchor could be removed by the dismissal of the previous Headmaster, transferred to the new 'Heir'. There are certain other spells that work the same way. I am the holder of a great number of such spells. Because of the importance of the spells I hold, I will continue to live until I have an Heir whom I can trust to hold them after me. Many of those spells are secret and dangerous, and it would be catastrophic, even apocalyptic, if I died while holding them. Of course, my magic does a wonderful job of both protecting me and prolonging my life."

"I know you said most of the spells are secret, but are there any you could tell us about that might help us understand the importance of what you do?" Hermione asked politely.

"I hold the wards for both Avalon and Excalibur," Merlin explained with an approving look. "There are also several magical animal sanctuaries that are set outside of normal space, much like Underhill is. Those spells are also tied to me, and if I died without passing them on, everything there would die as well."

"So once you pass them on, you're going to die?" Draco asked, his brow arched.

"Passing on the spells won't cause me to die, it'll simply make it possible for me to do so. However, I'm ready for it. All I've been waiting for was an Heir I could trust, to whom I could pass them on." Merlin explained.

"Assuming he chooses to accept this, once he's old enough, what would this mean for our child?" Lucius asked.

"I would take him Underhill for about a year or so, to make sure he knows everything and can handle the spells. Once they've been transferred to him though, he really won't have to do anything. I check the spells about once every five years or so, but they mostly are just 'there'."

"Why Underhill? He won't have access to most of his magic there. Also, would he have to live there, as you do?" Harry asked intently.

"If he is like me, and the one other child of two mages whom I have heard of, he will be able to access the different types of magic just as easily as he does normal wizarding magic. If he can't, then he won't be able to hold the wards, since several of them depend on Underhill's magic. He won't have to live there, though it might help if he visits every couple of years. I live there mainly because the Sidhe are practically immortal. I grew very tired of watching everyone I loved grow old and die, and their children and grandchildren as well. I moved Underhill to get away from mortal life once my great-grandchildren had died." Merlin's voice held an age-old pain.

"So one of the spells you hold makes you live as long as you wish?" Thyme asked softly.

Merlin shook his head. "No, it's the magic I hold that does that. You all know that magic is simply life energy, correct?"

Everyone in the room except for Neville and Blaise nodded agreement.

"It is?" Neville asked in confusion.

"Yes," Hermione began to lecture. "Every living creature has a certain amount of life energy within them. Wizards and witches have the ability to use that life energy to interact with the world around them. Life energy, or magic, also passes into the world around the person, especially when there are high emotions, death, or even sex. Actually, it's not only people, every living thing has this life energy and it seeps out of all of them. The energy that is found in the world around them is what mages use, although they also have their own magic to use. Evil mages kill people to release their energy into the world so they can absorb and use it."

"Very good," Merlin complimented her. "That's correct. In a way, using magic refreshes you. All of that life, pouring through your body, has to have an effect. Doing a small spell will give you a few seconds more of life. It's why wizards tend to live longer than non-wizarding folk. Although it's not all good. Completely draining your magic by doing a large spell that is almost beyond your power level is very bad for your body, and can drain the vitality completely away from it instead of adding to it; it can actually take years from your life. Mages have a higher life expectancy if they don't do something that big, because they take more life into them. Most mages automatically take in and release magic almost constantly, and that rush of life energy through them expands their life expectancy even more. A normal wizard's life expectancy is about one hundred and fifty years. A mage's is more like three hundred. However, pulling in other magics, especially those of places like Underhill, can drastically expand that lifetime. I do age, I simply do it so slowly that it is almost imperceptible, because the magic I pull in constantly rejuvenates me. And before anyone says that as long as the child stays in the human world, he wouldn't have to worry about that, I must enlighten you; unfortunately that isn't true. Much of the Sidhe magic is still left in this world for those that can feel it, and there are other magics, such as those of the unicorns, that work much the same way."

"But what guarantee is there that our child would be able to do that?" Harry asked.

"There is no guarantee, though I do feel that the child will, just because of the way his magic reacted to mine. He might not be interested in the job even if he is. There is nothing to say he has to be my Heir. It will be his choice and mine. He might not have the personality necessary to do the job, though I somehow doubt the two of you would raise a spoiled brat."

Harry and Ron laughed. "Lucius raised Draco, didn't he?"

Draco threw a pillow at the two laughing loons, looking very put out. "I am not spoiled, I am simply the best, and don't mind letting the uninformed know that," he said very snobbily.

"Su-ure you are," came from all of the students in the room.

Draco just pouted in response.

"That's okay, Draco, we all love you even if you are a spoiled brat," Ehlana said condescendingly, but she couldn't keep the grin from sneaking onto her face.

"Thank you so much," Draco said with a sneer.

"You're welcome," Blaise spoke up. "You know we live to keep your ego in check."

"Yes," Draco agreed with rolled eyes, "I am aware of that fact."

"Is this something we need to worry about with any other children we might have?" Lucius asked after sending a quelling look at the younger members of the group.

"You mean them being a spoiled brat? That's really up to you, isn't it?" Merlin asked, obviously having no problem joining in with the teasing. He smiled an apology at the annoyed blond before answering seriously. "Since the children of two mages are so rare, it's difficult to say for sure. However, about one in two children of a single mage is a mage, with two mages it is more likely that they will all be mages. The extra power however, I don't know."

"I wonder if it's like a recessive gene," Hermione said thoughtfully. She looked around at the clueless faces. "When there's no magic involved, things like hair color and eye color have to do with genes. Genes are small parts of a cell that decide everything about how a person looks, and even can have things to do with their personality and everything. Children get one gene from each parent, and that decides something like eye color. For instance, if one person passes down a gene for brown eyes, and the other parent passes down one for blue eyes, than the child will have brown eyes, because brown is dominant and will overwhelm the gene for blue eyes which is recessive. However, that child still has a gene for blue eyes, and can pass it down to their child. If both parents pass down a gene for blue eyes, than the child will have blue eyes. If you have two parents that both have brown eyes, but both have a recessive gene for blue eyes, then there is a one in four chance they both will pass down the gene for brown eyes, a two in four chance that one of them will pass down a gene for brown eyes, which means the child would have brown eyes, and a one in four chance they will both pass down a gene for blue eyes. So even if both parents are brown-eyed, providing they also carry one gene for blue eyes, they would have a twenty five percent chance of having a blue eyed baby."

"That's all really interesting Hermione," Ron said, although his expression screamed 'Not!', "but what does that have to do with magic?"

Harry held up a hand to stop his friend. "No, I get what she's saying, but it doesn't explain Voldemort. His father was definitely a muggle; we checked and double-checked with the Genealogy room. Therefore he couldn't have gotten a gene for being a mage from his father. And if the mage gene is dominant over a Muggle gene, than it doesn't explain why there aren't many more half-blood mages. However, if you just think about the rest of it, it means that our children have a one in four chance of being a double mage, a two in four chance of being a normal mage, and a one in four chance of being a normal wizard, right?"

Hermione smiled proudly. "That's right Harry."

"In other words," Snape spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "We're not going to know anything until the babies are actually born, are we?"

Hermione deflated a little. "No, probably not."

Harry turned and looked at his husband. "We're definitely having more than one," he practically commanded. "I'm not going to have any baby of mine having to go through life alone. Even if the only company he has is his brother or sister."

Lucius just smiled and drew him closer. "I've always known that you didn't agree with the one child per family rule most purebloods deal with because of inheritance issues."

"That has never made a lot of sense to me," Blaise admitted, another only child so that he didn't have to worry about other heirs. "We complain about there being too many halfbloods or muggleborn, and yet we don't ever try to increase our own numbers. Except, of course, for families like the Weasleys."

"We'll just have to change that, won't we?" Harry said with a grin.

"By ourselves?" Lucius asked with a raised eyebrow. Not that he'd be at all surprised if the young man said yes.

"Nope," Harry shook his head with a grin. "They'll all help."

"Don't you think you should ask us before deciding our future?" Neville asked. "What if some of us don't want kids?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," Harry answered airily. "You've got a year of living with me and our baby still to go, and he's going to be so cute that you'll all want some of your own."

"And on that note," Lucius said, forestalling any more conversation as he stood up, "I believe it is time for pregnant people to get to bed. Tomorrow should be an interesting day, and we all need to be well rested for it." He turned to their guest. "Do you have a place to stay, or would you like a room?"

Merlin considered it for a moment. "A room would be a blessing if it wouldn't put you to too much trouble."

"Not at all," Lucius answered easily. "Draco, find a spot for everyone that wants to stay, we'll be in our room if you need us." Before anyone could say anything more than 'good-night' he swept Harry out of the room.

"I don't want a room anywhere near them," Ron spoke up. "There are some things I don't want to hear."

Draco showed everyone to their own rooms, giving the most opulent one to their honored guest, before heading to his own room. His last comment to himself was, "Father used to be so much more discreet about things like that. Harry's a bad influence." He chuckled as he walked through his door.

Part 80/81+

Lucius quietly led the way to the master bedroom. Silently, they both got ready for bed. Only once they were cuddled together in bed did they actually speak. "Tell me what you're thinking," Lucius commanded softly.

Harry snuggled closer, but his eyes were far away. "I didn't want my baby to have a 'Destiny'," he replied carefully. "It never brought me anything but pain."

Lucius ran his hand over Harry's dark hair. "He doesn't have a 'Destiny', he has a possibility, nothing more."

Harry barked out a laugh. "Yeah, right. Everyone at the trial heard that he's Merlin's Heir, and half of those people were reporters. It's going to be all over Britain soon. And then it won't matter if it's true or not, because everyone will believe it and push him towards it."

"They most certainly will not," Lucius disagreed. "It is up to us, what the child grows up to be. If anyone tries to force him into something before he's old enough to deal with it on his own, then we will take care of the problem. However, considering who his parents are, anyone trying to force him to be something he doesn't want to be will find out just how stubborn and powerful a Malfoy-Potter combination is."

Harry halfheartedly smiled. "I just wanted him to have the chance to grow up normal."

Lucius chuckled. "That would never have happened anyway. Our child will never be anything close to *normal*. Why be normal when you can be extraordinary?"

"Because being normal means you don't have to deal with expectations beyond your ability to handle," Harry turned to glare. "Being normal means not being singled out when things go wrong."

"Perhaps being normal means having friends and family you can turn to whenever things get to be too much," Lucius suggested.

"Exactly," Harry agreed, glad his husband agreed with him.

"And do you believe that anything that happens will take away the family and friends you have already made? Even if something happened to both of us, there is no way our child will ever be without family."

Harry thought about it for a long moment. "That's true."

"Our child will never grow up unloved," Lucius added. The corollary, 'like you did' was silent but understood.

Harry nodded, looking slightly happier.

"Our child will never be forced to live up to expectations beyond his abilities because we will not allow that to happen." Lucius said sternly. "Besides the fact that I am sure there would be very little that is beyond the ability of this child, or any others we might have."

Harry chuckled at that.

"It sounds to me as if you wish for the child to be *ordinary*, and if that is the case, you need to rethink your expectations, because I can assure you, there has never been an *ordinary* Malfoy child, and there never will be one."

Harry's chuckle grew at Lucius' superior and snobbish tone. He knew that it was partly to reassure him, but there was a great deal of truth in what the older man had said. In many ways, normal did equate to ordinary, and the chances that any child of theirs would be ordinary were too extreme to consider.

"You can't blame me for worrying," Harry murmured.

"No, I can't." Lucius agreed. "But I do need you to understand that this child," and he laid his hand upon the slight bulge in Harry's abdomen, "will never have to go through what you did. There will be expectations, yes. Not because he's Merlin's Heir, but because he's *our* child. There will be people who make judgments based on his being related to you, and others on him being related to me. That is something he will grow up with. But they will never be too much for him to bear, because he will always have us to back him up, and rebuff whatever burden society might try to place on his shoulders. There'll always be Severus and Draco to lend their help. And as much as it might vex me, I have little doubt there will also be the Weasleys and Granger, Zabini, probably even Longbottom, Scarborough, MacLir and perhaps even Blankenship. Somehow I just can't believe that your friends would ever abandon you or the child you carry. They've put up with you this long, through some major experiences."

Harry smiled, comforted. "My friends are the best," he agreed, yawning as his tension continued to dissipate.

"Now, what else is wrong?" Lucius asked.

"What do you think is going to happen to Dumbledore? I mean, Moody's right; he's insane, isn't he?"

Lucius frowned thoughtfully. "I'm actually happy that Morann is the one that will be making that decision. Yes, he is insane, but in the most dangerous way; he's still rational about it. Normally, I'd say put him down like a dog, but unfortunately, even after everything, the public would not stand for that. He's still too well loved. Incarceration at either Azkaban or St. Mungo's is out of the question; there is far too much chance he would escape from either of those places. My preference would be to drain his magic and make him a squib, but that probably would not work. Truthfully, I do not see any way in which the wizarding world could make him pay for his crimes."

"Is that why you allowed the Tuatha de Danaan to have so much influence in this trial?" Harry asked.

"Indeed." Lucius admitted. "I had hopes that they could come up with an acceptable punishment."

Harry shifted slightly and yawned again. "I believe Morann will. He's got a really good reputation. And he knows all this too, doesn't he?" His voice drifted at the last words and Lucius was silent, knowing his husband was on the edge of sleep. As long as he didn't interrupt, Harry would be asleep in mere seconds. He saw he was correct, as Harry felt heavier as his muscles lost their tension. Lucius settled himself down, making sure he didn't bother Harry, and that his wand was within reach as he slept. His last thought was that he hoped Harry was right.

Part 81/81+

Morann looked out across the massive group gathered before him. It had been decided to hold the judgment and sentencing outside on the steps of Gringott's, so that everyone could hear it.

"This has been a very difficult trial to sit as judge The charges brought against Albus Dumbledore were horrific, especially considering his position as Headmaster of such a prestigious school, and that he was charged with the well-being of so many children. The damage that has been done by this individual is beyond numeration, and far beyond compensation. And yet, in his own mind, everything he did was for a good purpose.

"Many people have listened to the testimonies and have been appalled at the lengths he went and the things he did. Others will consider it all was done for the good of the wizarding world, and therefore forgivable, no matter how far it went. Some will look at what has been said, and believe that Dumbledore was not in full control of his senses. And perhaps they are all right.

"First, my judgment. On the count of child neglect and endangerment, guilty. On the charge of accessory to child abuse, guilty. On the charge of attempted murder, not guilty." He could see the anger in Harry's and others' eyes and hurried to explain. "According to the laws of the wizarding world, a child in the womb is not technically a person until their magic can be felt as independent of the mother's. That is usually at about the fifth month. As such, the death of a fetus cannot be considered murder." He watched as the Minister of Magic comforted the hurt and angry child and wished he could change his ruling, but it was the only legal one. "The charge of using a compulsion on a mediwitch in an attempt to force her to commit murder, has been changed to using a compulsion on a mediwitch to force her to commit assault, and the judgment is guilty. On the charge of using compulsions upon children, Aurors, and members of the Ministry, to the count of two hundred individuals, guilty. And finally, on the charge of using compulsions to escape from custody, guilty."

"As to the sentencing. Among my people, the charges that have been brought up, most especially the child endangerment and abuse charges, would be grounds for the death sentence. In the wizarding world, the use of compulsions, especially on such a grand scale, would be grounds for the Dementor's Kiss. However, Albus Dumbledore is not of my people, and the Dementor's Kiss is no longer used as a punishment. I feel it would be very remiss to sentence him to either Azkaban or St. Mungo's. The chance of his being able to escape is too high, since he has already shown himself willing and able to escape from custody."

He held up a ball. Those who were close enough could see that it was clear with a kind of blue sparkly smoke inside of it. "My judgment is this. Albus Dumbledore is hereby sentenced to spend the rest of his natural life within a null-magic sphere. For those of you who do not know what that is, it places your body in a type of stasis, while your mind is trapped in an illusion of your own making. It is not a punishment, as some of you understand the word. He will not be unhappy while there, unless his mind believes it should be a punishment. I doubt that is the case, considering the testimony we heard. But, he will also never leave."

"So mote it be."

"So mote it be," the crowd answered.

There was much talking and exclaiming. Many thought it was not enough, many thought it was too much. No one was really happy with it, most especially not the main accuser.

Morann spoke to the members of the press and Alastor Moody, before heading towards those who were gathered together talking quietly.

"Judge Morann," Harry greeted coldly.

Morann nodded his head toward the boy. "I understand that you're not happy, but it was all that I could do," he said softly, but his eyes were like iron. "I went by the laws of your world to determine the rulings and the judgment I made. It is why I came, and it was as far as I could go."

Harry gazed at him quietly for a moment, before nodding his head. "I understand that. To ask you to go against the laws you were here to uphold would go against everything you stand for. I also know that it was probably the only choice that everyone would accept. But you can't blame me for not believing it to be enough. It doesn't seem fair that he won't suffer at all. He'll live in a world of his own creation, and it'll probably be some wonderful place where he's the most powerful and everyone worships him and goes to him to answer every question."

Morann nodded. "There is one thing that I believe I can do which would still be acceptable." He held out the blue ball. "Take one of your worst memories, and place it within the ball. It will be part of Dumbledore's prison, whether he wishes it so or not."

Harry took hold of the ball. "What do I do?"

"Just place it against your forehead and bring up the memory you wish to transfer," Morann explained.

Harry looked into the swirling, sparkling smoke and tried to decide what memory could possibly *show* Dumbledore the type of life his manipulations had made for Harry. Finally, he decided. Only twice had he felt bad enough to even consider ending it all, and it was the first time that he pulled up. Only weeks after Cedric had been killed, while he was still blaming himself for his death and he hadn't been allowed to eat in the past two days. He'd been having trouble sleeping thanks to the visions, nightmares, and his scar hurting constantly. He'd broken a dish after Dudley pushed him and ended up with the worst beating so far that summer, including at least one broken rib. Knowing that he'd still be expected to get up the next day and do it all over again was just too much. The only reason he was still alive the next day was the fact that his room was so bare he hadn't been able to find anything that he was sure would kill him immediately, not prolong his agony and make it worse.

"Thank you," he murmured, handing it back. He did feel better about it now, knowing that in some small way he'd had a part in punishing his tormentor.

"What about that treasure of the Tuatha de Danaan that King Nuada was worried about?" Ehlana asked softly.

Morann smiled back at her. "His guards asked him about it last night while he was still under the effects of the potion. It was retrieved early this morning. We will find a better place for it now."

After that, Morann took the ball and headed off to where Dumbledore was standing. As everyone watched, he opened the ball. The smoke came swirling out and the sparkles in it reminded many people of Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. It covered up the ex-Headmaster completely, and then seemed to be sucked back into the ball, mage and all. In mere moments, the space between the Sidhe warriors was empty.

It was over.

It was hard to get back to normal for all those who had been such an integral part of the trial and what had led up to it. It seemed strange not to worry about who was under control or who might be a danger. Of course, that meant they actually had to spend time on their studies. Well, in between trying to change the wards on Godric's Keep, especially since Godric enjoyed being at Hogwarts again and didn't want to be stuck with only the other portraits for company.

Lucius was hard at work reconstructing the Ministry, but made sure he made it to his and Harry's room in the Chambers at least three nights a week. It wasn't enough for Harry, but it was the best Lucius could do until he had underlings he could trust on their own. Unfortunately, those seemed to be difficult to find. Lucius once said in annoyance that he was waiting until Harry's class graduated so he could grab some of the group. At least he knew that they could be trusted to work independently.

Christmas was the best Harry could ever remember. As much as he usually enjoyed his holidays in Gryffindor tower with Ron and Hermione, this was the first true *family* Christmas he'd ever had. It seemed Draco still had a very childish attitude towards Christmas, as evidenced by him running into the master suite and jumping on the bed to wake them up. Luckily, Lucius had expected that, and so made sure they both wore clothing to sleep the night before. Deciding to go with the program, Harry then raced off to wake up Severus, Sirius and Remus the same way.

Two days later there was a party for all of Harry's friends and their families. And even with the Weasleys, Malfoys, Sirius and Severus all in one room, there wasn't a single fight. It was declared a wonderful time by all involved.

By the beginning of the second semester, it was only because of magic that Harry could get to his classes. Stairs were out of the question and he would have been stuck down in the dungeons at all time if Draco and Hermione hadn't charmed a chair to be able to carry him up and down. It was even charmed to set him on his feet; otherwise, he'd never be able to get up. It was in the middle of January that something new happened.

Harry was eating at the middle table, as he almost always did these days. He was in the middle of an animated discussion of quidditch with at least half of the table when he suddenly stilled. The nearby students abruptly became silent as his mouth dropped open and his fork dropped to the table with a clatter that seemed to be heard throughout the room. His hand flew to his stomach.

"What's the matter?" Ron yelped. "Do I need to get Madam Faire?"

Draco was already waving to his Head of House, his own worried gaze upon his friend.

Everyone calmed down as they saw the beautiful, awed smile that spread slowly across the young man's face.

"What is it?" Severus barked as he ran up.

"Daddy!" Harry gasped out. "He's kicking!" He grabbed his father's hand, and pulled it down to his stomach. Those who were watching, which was almost everyone by that time, saw the frown leave their Potion Master's face, to be replaced by wonder as he felt his grandson move for the very first time. His unflappable and unmovable reputation was completely dashed, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

From that time on, it seemed as if Harry couldn't be in a room without a dozen people wanting to touch his belly. He would occasionally get annoyed with it, but while he might be unhappy with people worshiping him, he couldn't really complain if they wished to pay homage to his son. He was wonderful after all, and he didn't even have to be born for him to know that.

Ginny Weasley returned to school at the start of the second semester. She was much subdued, and went out of her way to stay away from Harry, something everyone was happy about. She only drew attention on her first day back, when she'd apologized in front of the entire school for her actions. After that, she faded into the woodwork.

Flick disappeared in March, while they were at the Manor for Spring Break. Spitfire told them that the pair would be staying on the Manor grounds, rather that returning with Harry and Severus. Then he disappeared, obviously going to his mate. Knowing what was going on, no one much worried, although Harry was unhappy that he wouldn't get to see the dragonettes born. Several weeks later, Lucius portkeyed into the Chamber with a basket that turned out to hold Flick, Spitfire, another female, and six of the absolutely most precious baby mini-drags in existence. At least as far as Harry was concerned. The babies stayed in the Chamber under the watch of the extra female most of the time, with occasional, carefully monitored excursions out to the field behind Hagrid's hut.

Now, it was the end of April. Harry had been allowed to take most of his finals early, so he wouldn't have to worry about it now that he'd been placed on bedrest. He had moved into an extra room in his father's chambers, everyone feeling that they'd be able to get to him better if there were problems. Lucius was there every night, and he never had time to get bored thanks to the people who kept dropping in.

Harry placed his hands over his extended stomach. A year ago he'd never have imagined he could be this happy. Yes, he was uncomfortable, but he was also overjoyed with his life. In only another couple of weeks he would be a father... mother, whatever. He'd have a baby of his own. He had a wonderful husband, a father he adored, and more friends than he knew what to do with. It wasn't how he'd ever pictured his life. He felt blessed. Now, he truly couldn't picture it any other way. Maybe everything that had happened had been for a reason. If it got him this life, he'd do it all over again; but he knew that thanks to those who loved him, such pain would never again be necessary.

Life was good.


	25. Epilogues, three

Done! I hope you all enjoyed the trip.

I have a couple of uncompleted fics on my yahoogroup, that I don't actually plan on releasing here until they're finished, and I've got no clue when that will be. I love my new job, but when I get home, the last thing I want to do is write, so they haven't been updated in a while.

Thank you to everyone who read and enjoyed this, and even more to those of you so thoughtful as to respond. I really love reading all of the comments I've received.

Tata for now!

Epilogue 1

Harry awakened with a gasp. His hands flew to his stomach as he automatically drew magic from the body next to him and placed a barrier around the child he carried. It was a necessity he'd grown used to. It should have been impossible for a child to do magic in the womb. But, since when had he ever been normal? It wasn't fair to expect his child would be any different.

He looked over at the blonde head next to him, the hair too short to be that of his husband. As his pregnancy progressed, he'd found that something protective inside him would no longer allow him to pull magic even from places he felt were safe, only his closest family. Therefore, Severus, Draco, and Lucius made sure he was never alone. He'd found he could pull from Hermione and Ron as well, though he preferred not to, since it could be dangerous for the non-mages to have magic drawn from them with any frequency.

He ran his hands soothingly over his swollen stomach as he remembered a conversation he'd had with Neville.

"I thought you trusted me?" Neville asked sorrowfully.

"I do!" Harry answered vehemently.

"Not enough to draw from me," Neville disagreed.

"It's not like that," Harry argued. "Look, this is the way I think of it. We're a family."

Neville smiled shyly. "I've thought that occasionally, too."

"Then answer me this, honestly now. Are we brothers?"

Neville considered for a long moment, before shaking his head slightly with downcast eyes.

Harry just grinned. "Now, ignoring all forms of incest, this is how I think of it. Severus is my father; Lucius is my husband. Sirius and Remus are my uncles, on my mother's side of course. Hermione is my sister; Ron and Draco are my brothers. You're a first cousin on my mother's side; Blaise is the same on my father's. Thyme is a second cousin, while Ehlana and Roan are in-laws. I think the twins are first cousins, too. When I am in this state, to draw on a person's magic, they need to be immediate family. There is some strange protective magic going on, that I don't control. I can't even draw from Sirius. That's just the way it works, don't ask me why."

Neville looked a bit happier, but not much.

"What else is the matter?"

"If I'm a cousin, does that mean he won't call me Uncle Neville?"

Harry laughed. "If you want to be Uncle Neville, that's what you'll be. This little one can use all the Gryffindor family he can get."

Harry was brought out of his reminiscing by another sharp pain. He gasped sharply. Merlin, but the boy was kicking hard tonight. He was glad Flick was still at Malfoy Manor. As much as he might miss her some days, she needed to be taking care of her own new family, not being snappish because of his pain. Who knew what would happen if she were around once he went into labor?

He opened his eyes once more to look at the clock on his side of the bed. His eyes blinked in incomprehension at the ball glowing a bright blue next to his clock. That didn't make any sense. It wasn't supposed to do that for another two weeks!

He sat up and cast "Lumos", lighting up the room. His bedmate stirred and sat up tiredly.

"Is something the matter?" Draco asked, yawning.

Harry ignored him, his eyes caught by the clock hanging on the wall. Like the Weasley family clock, this one didn't tell time. Instead it was a wellness clock focused on Harry. And right now, the hand was pointing straight to 'In labor'.

Harry shook his head in denial. "It's too early," he muttered.

"What's too early?" Draco asked, still half-asleep. All sleepiness fled as Harry hissed and clutched his stomach.

"What's wrong? Draco's eyes flew from the glowing ball to the clock on the wall and he lay stunned for a long moment. It wasn't time yet! His father was supposed to be here, or Severus, or someone! Once his panic subsided a bit, he realized that just because they weren't here yet, didn't mean they wouldn't be soon; they both had the exact same warning balls and clocks. Meanwhile... "Come on Harry, let's go to the birthing room."

"Without Madam Faire? Or Lucius? Or dad?" Harry was officially freaked.

"Madam Faire has a ward on the door, remember? As soon as we enter the room, she'll know. And Dad and Sev have their clocks. If they haven't joined us by the time we get you settled, I'll go wake them up, okay?"

Draco was very happy to see Severus striding up to them as they walked. The man appeared competent and unflustered. He took Harry's other arm and together they helped him into the birthing room.

Madam Faire entered almost immediately and checked Harry over. "Well, it seems your little boy is very eager to greet the world," she informed them with a smile.

"I thought you said it wouldn't be for another two weeks?" Draco challenged.

"Babies come in their own time; the birth date is an estimate, any time within a two week span from that date is not unusual," she informed him frostily. "And this one's time is here. Now, all we need to do is get him out."

"No!" Harry shouted.

"What's the matter?" Severus asked worriedly. "I thought you were ready."

"Not without Lucius," Harry said adamantly.

"I'll go find him," Draco offered, eager to escape. He couldn't wait to be an older brother, but that didn't mean he necessarily wanted to see the birth. Since he carried his portkey with him everywhere, he decided waking his father personally *right now* would be faster and more effective than finding a contact mirror and then having a house elf wake him up.

He used the Malfoy portkey to appear in the study, not worried in the least that he was still wearing his nightclothes.

"How may Moppy help young Master Draco?" a high-pitched voice asked.

"Is my father still in bed?" Draco asked.

Moppy shook her head violently. "Master Lucius was called to an emergency meeting at the Ministry."

"When did he leave?" Draco asked as he headed to the mirror.

"Two hours ago," Moppy answered.

Draco pressed a certain part of the mirror. "Voco Lucius." There was no answer.

Glowering he pressed another spot. "Voco Minister's Office."

A witch he didn't know answered. "Ministry of Magic, Minister's office. How may I help you?"

"I need to talk to the Minister immediately," Draco answered.

"I'm sorry, he's in a meeting," the witch began.

"Interrupt him, it's an emergency."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, the meeting is very important."

"So is this. Look, I'm his son, his husband's in labor. I need to speak to my father, now!"

The witch laughed mockingly. "Good try, but the Minister's son wouldn't be calling while dressed in a nightshirt, and I believe Mr. Potter's not due for several weeks. My instructions were not to interrupt the meeting. No exceptions were given. Call back during normal operating hours." With that, she hung up and would not pick up again.

Draco swore a litany of expletives as he ran up the stairs to his bedroom and got changed into formal black robes that were cut for easy movement. He was slicking back his hair when the house elf informed him there was a call on the mirror. He quickly ran downstairs to answer.

"Why are you wasting time primping?" Severus snarled. "Harry is refusing to allow Madam Faire to do anything until Lucius is here."

"Unfortunately, he was called in to a meeting and the b... witch who answered refused to interrupt him."

"Did you explain to her..."

"Of course I did," Draco interrupted. "And now I plan on *explaining* in person." His grin was shark-like.

"Do it quickly," Severus ordered. Both he and Draco winced at the scream that came through clearly. Any thoughts of revenge Draco might have entertained were put on hold by the sound.

"I'm on my way," he responded. He quickly ran to the floo fireplace and threw the powder in. "The Ministry, Minister's Office." Luckily, the Manor's floo was one of the only floos directly connected to the office.

The receptionist witch jumped to her feet. "What are you doing here? I'm going to call Security!"

Draco took great delight in stunning her and watching as she fell to the floor with a solid thud. When his attempt to open the door normally met with no success, he simply pulled in all the power he could reach and blew it in, hinges, wards and all.

He walked in as if he owned the place.

"Is there a reason you interrupted us in such a manner?" Lucius asked dryly. He was the only one without his wand drawn, as he had recognized his son's magic even as it was used.

"You know this hooligan?" One of the wizards asked in a heavily accented voice, his wand still out.

"This is my son," Lucius informed them absently.

"Then send him away, we are in the middle of a meeting," the man said dismissively.

"This meeting is canceled," Draco replied authoritatively. "My father is needed elsewhere."

Lucius surged to his feet. "Harry?"

"Went into labor an hour ago, but is refusing to allow Madam Faire to do anything until you get there. You weren't answering your mirror, and your secretary refused to interrupt you."

"As she should have," one of the other wizards replied. "This meeting is important to the future peace of the wizarding world. It can not be simply put on hold."

"Unfortunately, it will be," Lucius remarked. "My husband needs me now, and that's more important. This meeting can wait. What he is doing cannot."

Several of the wizards started to complain, and even threaten the blonde, but the eldest wizard's voice rose above them all. "As it should be. Do give young Harry Potter my regards and wish for a healthy child."

"I will, Monsieur Rossini." With that, Lucius activated his portkey to the Chamber. Draco arrived right behind him. As Lucius headed toward the birthing room, Draco left to gather together the rest of Harry's friends and family.

Meanwhile, Lucius was wincing at the sounds he was hearing. Oh, Harry wasn't screaming, which was something to be thankful for, but the cursing coming out of his mouth was enough to make the strongest man pale, especially when they knew that if Harry wanted something badly enough, it might actually happen. Lucius was very attached to those parts of his anatomy. Of course, so was Harry, so Lucius would hope that maybe he didn't have *quite* that much to worry about.

He entered the room and immediately ducked, barely getting out of the way of the thrown bottle. "Where have you been?" Harry shrieked.

"I got here as soon as I could," Lucius said soothingly.

"It wasn't soon enough!" Harry yelled.

"But he's here now, so do you think we can let my grandson out?" Severus asked, deflecting Harry's attention.

Once started, the spell took almost no time at all.

Madam Faire did some quick checks on the baby before placing him in the impatiently waiting father's arms.

Harry stared down, entranced. Their son was so little, and so perfect. He had a little tuft of blonde hair, so fine it was almost indistinguishable from his pink skin. His eyes were blue, but so dark that all the watching men were sure they would quickly turn green.

"He's so beautiful," Lucius whispered.

"He's so little," Severus murmured, in an awed tone. He stroked his finger against the little palm and smiled broadly as tiny fingers wrapped around his own finger. "He's strong, too."

Harry and Lucius were looking over the rest of the child, checking over every inch, counting fingers and toes and marveling over the miracle they had made.

The doors slowly opened and people crowded in. Lucius gently gathered his new son into his arms and carried him over to his elder son, presenting him. "This is your brother, Kieran Aiden Alexander Potter-Malfoy."

Draco accepted him, holding Kieran as if he were made of glass. He gently kissed the boy's forehead, careful of the soft spot. "Welcome to the world, brother."

Everyone gathered around to coo at the baby.

"How big is he?" Hermione asked, stroking his cheek lightly.

"Seven pounds, 1 ounce, and 19 inches," Madam Faire answered promptly.

"That's awfully small," Hermione said worriedly.

"It's slightly small, a bit below average for a Potter or a Malfoy, but still perfectly acceptable," she was told. "Kieran is completely healthy, and is probably small because of Harry's own size. He will lose several ounces in the next day or two, but that's also normal after birth, so long as after that, he puts it back on."

Draco carefully walked over to the bed and settled him back into Harry's waiting arms. The others followed and found spots around the bed.

"He's beautiful, Harry," Sirius told him, his eyes glistening. "I'm just sorry James and Lily weren't here to meet him. They'd be so proud."

"Thanks," Harry said softly. "That means a lot."

"But did you have to let Lucius name him? What kind of name is Kieran, anyway?"

Harry, Hermione, and several others started to laugh. "It means 'black"," Remus finally told the confused Animagus.

Eventually, Draco left, chasing out the others ahead of him, so the new little family could be together for their first night in a brand new world.

Epilogue 3

Harry James Malfoy smiled down at the blonde bundle he was gently rocking and laughed lightly at the blown bubble.

"Dad!" A shout from the doorway disturbed them both, and the formerly content baby began to cry.

Harry leveled a mild glare at the contrite pre-teen as he hovered in the doorway. "Sorry," the boy muttered.

"It's okay," Harry replied, hushing the baby in his arms at the same time. "But what was so important that you came racing in here like a raging hippogryph?"

The boy's green eyes lit up. "I got my Hogwarts' letter!"

Harry grinned happily. "That's wonderful Kieran! Have you told your father yet?" He pulled the blonde eleven year old into a big hug, being careful not to squish the four-month old little girl who seemed to be smiling happy congratulations as well.

Kieran shook his head. "Not yet. I thought I'd tell him at breakfast."

"Well, go get the others up and you can tell everyone at once. Do you want the whole family to go with us to Diagon, or just the two of us and maybe your father if he can get away?"

"Could we go without the little monsters?" Kieran asked happily.

"Here, take Lily down with you, and I'll see if your Uncle Ron has room," Harry handed over the blue eyed baby, and headed for the study mirror He stopped and looked at himself in the mirror. Many things had changed over the past ten years. Including himself. After the birth of Kieran, he'd actually gotten a growth spurt and was happy with his increased height of five foot seven. His black hair was still every bit as long and lustrous, and Lucius still delighted in brushing it. He looked more mature, but his features were still soft enough that even ten years older, he still spent almost as much time dressed as a female as he did a male, and looked good, either way. Finally, he shook himself free of the introspection and called his friend. After all of that, he still reached the dining room first, and it gave him a few minutes to think of other things.

It was so hard to believe that his little Kieran was old enough for Hogwarts. It couldn't have been *that* long ago that the blonde-haired baby in his arms had been him and not his baby sister. And now, he'd be leaving Harry for ten months out of the year!

He wondered what House his eldest would be sorted into. Kieran had exhibited the traits of all of the Houses. He was powerful and thanks to his power had had to be trained much earlier than usual, so he would be going into school knowing more than even most fourth year Ravenclaws. He was cunning and witty enough for Slytherin, and brave and foolish enough for Gryffindor, especially if a broom were involved. His loyalty to his extended family was beyond compare, and would do any Hufflepuff proud. He was the eldest child of a large and very extended family, and took that responsibility seriously.

"Hi, Daddy!"

Harry automatically smiled in response to his elder daughter's greeting.

There was little doubt where the eight year old would eventually go. The red-haired, green-eyed Aurora Jade was a Slytherin to the core. Although she got on well with her siblings, she had a tongue that could easily rival her grandfather's. She was also showing an early interest in Potions, unlike her brothers. In looks, she was much like the pictures of a young Lily Evans. Harry and Lucius often joked that she was the destined child of Severus and Lily. Severus, needless to say, absolutely adored the girl.

"Hello, Aurora," he greeted her with a hug and a kiss.

"What has Kieran so excited?" Aurora asked. "No, let me guess, he got his..." Aurora was abruptly silenced as Harry placed his hand over her mouth.

"Let him tell it," he requested softly.

"Yes, sir," she answered easily. "And I'll even try to be properly excited."

"I appreciate that."

Kieran entered the room next, and handed Lily over to his sister. "Father has the twins, he'll be down in a minute."

The twins, Damien Evander and Tristan James, unlike the Weasley twins, were very different people. Damien was probably going to end up in Ravenclaw. At four, he'd already been reading for a year and was interested in learning everything he possibly could. He could often be found curled up in a corner with a book far too big for his lap. Tristan, on the other hand, was a Gryffindor through and through, as evidenced by the fact that in the past four years he'd been to the mediwitch more than all of his siblings combined. He was already rivaling Harry's number of visits, despite the fact that every place in the manor that could possibly be climbed had been warded extensively so he couldn't fall off. Somehow he always managed, though.

Lucius walked into the room with one of the black-haired twins walking sedately by his side and the other tossed negligently over his shoulder.

"Good morning," he greeted, putting the twins in their seats before going over to greet his husband and daughters.

There was a chorus of greetings in return as they all settled down. Kieran could wait no longer. "I got my letter!" he blurted.

"Congratulations!" Lucius and Aurora said immediately. They started a conversation on the school and what it would be like. Tristan joined in happily, even if he wasn't sure what was going on. Damien's face, however, scrunched up, and he looked as if he was about to cry.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked carefully. "Aren't you happy for your brother?"

"I don't want Kee to go away!" Damien wailed.

Tristan's eyes went wide. "Kee's going away?"

"Not right now," Harry promised. He knew they were going to have to have quite a few talks with the twins before they would be able to accept their brother's going away, but they were mollified for now. Of course, regardless of her comments, Aurora was probably going to take it worst of all. She adored her older brother, even if it wasn't something often spoken of.

"Are you going to be able to come with us to Diagon today?" Harry asked Lucius.

"We're going to Diagon?" Aurora asked with delight.

Harry shook his head with an understanding smile. "It's Kieran's special day," he reminded her. "You're all going to your Uncle Ron's."

There was pouting, but not as much as there would have been if they were being left with the house elves. Uncle Ron's was fun.

Lucius considered his schedule. Being Minister for Magic was a more than full-time job, but he made sure to make as much time for his family as he could. "I have an early meeting I can't get out of," he admitted, "but I should be able to get out at noon. Perhaps we can meet at the Golden Lyre for lunch and then continue shopping afterwards?" Lucius suggested. "Just be sure not to buy his wand until I get there."

Harry glanced at Kieran for his approval before agreeing. The eleven year old boy had no hesitation on giving it. It was very rare he got to spend time with the two of them by themselves. Not that he ever felt slighted; he knew they loved him, but they were both busy people, and being alone with them was a bigger treat than going to Diagon Alley.

Harry had shocked many people by seemingly dropping out of sight after school and becoming a househusband. In truth, he had started writing. Not wanting to sell books just because of his name, Jade Jamison published her first book a year after Harry graduated. His Founders series topped the best sellers list in both the wizarding and muggle worlds. Ironically, Jade was now more famous than Harry had ever been.

After breakfast, everyone hurried around to gather their favorite things to take along. There was never any way to tell who would be at Ron's.

Once everyone was gathered once more, Lucius pulled down the pot of Floo powder and let everyone take a pinch. Then he gathered up Lily and her things and Apparated away. It was not a good idea to take a child that young through the Floo, the soot could mess up her lungs. Harry and Kieran both took hold of one of the twins. Starting with Aurora, they threw the powder into the fire and stepped through in turn, confidently stating "The Creche."

They arrived to a scene of organized chaos. It took only seconds for the younger set to see someone they knew and take off running. Harry looked around, bemused. Sometimes he still found it hard to believe. Not only that his best friend, who he'd been sure would become an Auror or manager of the Chudley Cannons, had started a daycare, but also the fact that most of the well over a dozen children currently gathered here were the progeny of his friends.

Aurora had headed towards a group containing her niece, Raine Malfoy, only daughter of Draco and Ehlana, Marcy Weasley, Ron and Hermione's eldest, and Coral Blankenship, only child of Roan and Blaise, the only couple that had broken up since school. They were still good friends and were dedicated to their daughter, even though they both had new relationships.

Tristan had headed straight for the Mob. How FrednGeorge had met and married the blonde twins MarynKate was a mystery, but not nearly as much a one as how the twin girls managed to get pregnant at the same time, give birth at the same time, and have absolutely identical children three times in a row. First there were two boys, then two girls and lastly a set of identical twin boys each, all redheads. No one was even sure if the married twins were two couples or a foursome. Of course, to the kids, all that mattered was that the Mob always had the best jokes around.

Damien headed for a smaller, more diversified group that everyone called the Mini-Ravens. They were the ones that preferred finding a good book to read or a quiet corner where they could daydream or draw. Ages ranged from four year old Damien to ten year old Elizabeth Weasley, Percy's eldest.

Harry smiled broadly as he watched Ron work the group of kids. It had surprised no one when Hermione and Ron joined the Ministry upon finishing school. They had married soon after, and by Christmas, Hermione was pregnant. The surprise came when Ron quit so he could take care of the baby. He told his friends that Hermione's position as the Minister in Charge of Race Relations was more important than his own job had been. Then of course, there was the reason why he had been Kieran's favorite babysitter. When it got to the point that he preferred playing with the baby to playing Quidditch, everyone knew he was pretty much hooked on kids.

Once the rest of the group started procreating, they found a willing babysitter in the stay-at-home dad. And with the Weasley children: his own four, plus his numerous nieces and especially nephews, two generations of Malfoys, the Longbottoms, Zabinis, Blankenships, Lupin-Blacks and Snapes, it was quite a collection. When there were too many kids for him to look after at home, Lucius offered him his own daycare facility. No one minded having to pay for the service, though Ron hated it at first. Now, he made good money and seemed to have an almost never-ending supply of patience, for the little ones – as well as an amazing ability to keep track. Molly's influence was clear on her son.

Draco had become Severus' apprentice legally after graduation and seven years ago they had finally perfected a potion that allowed a werewolf to totally control his change, making it more like an Animagus ability and much easier on the body. With the repeal of the werewolf laws, thanks in large part to Hermione, Remus had managed to get Sirius pregnant... with triplets. It had seemed to give Severus a lot of pleasure to see his old enemy waddling around with a protruding stomach. Very vocal pleasure. Which might have explained how the Potion Master *just happened* to get in the way of a certain spell.

Harry was very displeased that his father hadn't told him he was involved with a certain half-Sidhe DADA teacher, but forgave him after being presented with his new little brother. Although still not bonded, Severus and Connor also had a two year old daughter.

Yes, Harry decided, life was good. He and his friends seemed to be trying to repopulate the wizarding world by themselves, and doing a good job at it. Hogwarts had no idea what Kieran would be the start of; neither, really, did he, but he couldn't wait to find out. Already five of these children had been definitely identified as mages, and only two of those were his. As a sudden weight on his shoulder turned out to be an annoyed familiar who hissed her displeasure at being left behind, and he could hear those conversations being repeated as brightly colored flying snakes landed on other shoulders, he decided again, _Yes, life was good, and the world was clueless of what fate was soon to spring upon it..._ And that was just the way he liked it.


End file.
